Former CPD union president cleared on charges from Van Dyke trial

Former Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President Dean Angelo, Sr. was cleared Tuesday on charges brought against him by the union he once led.

FOP 2nd Vice President Martin Preib filed a charge against Angelo on Oct. 5 — the same day Jason Van Dyke’s guilty verdict was announced — alleging Angelo was out of line when he spoke to reporters at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse during the high-profile trial.

“Personally speaking, I feel strongly this is something that should never have happened, but sadly it did,” Angelo said in a statement Tuesday night. “As we move forward, I will be exploring all of my options; which I am being told are quite numerous.”

In December, a three-member panel of the FOP recommended that Angelo — who is still a voting member of the FOP board — not be disciplined, an FOP source said.

Tuesday, the full board — aside from FOP President Kevin Graham, who abstained from voting — cleared Angelo of wrongdoing, though the vote “wasn’t unanimous by any means,” according to an FOP source.

Preib alleged that the former union president was acting as a spokesman for the union without permission to do so.

In fact, Van Dyke’s wife, Tiffany, had asked Angelo to be the family’s spokesman during the trial.

“Throughout this ordeal, Jason, myself and our two daughters became very close personal friends with Dean and his wife, Claudia,” Tiffany Van Dyke said in a statement last month. “They were very supportive of our family. During the trial, we asked Dean to speak on our behalf to the media. We were very grateful that he did speak to the media on our behalf so that we could keep some privacy for our family during this difficult time.”

According to the source close to Angelo, Tiffany Van Dyke wrote a letter to the FOP board — on which Preib sits — letting them know the family had asked Angelo to be their spokesman during the trial.

In bringing the charge against Angelo, Preib cited Article 2, Section 6 of the FOP Constitution, which mandates that union members “engage in and carry on such functions that will serve the best interests of this organization and our membership.”

If Angelo was found in violation of the FOP Constitution, he could have faced punishment ranging from a sanction to expulsion from the union.