Police commander owns 3-flat on West Side block where he’s ordered cops to keep people out

The epicenter of Chicago’s fight to keep people indoors is on the West Side, where police cars Friday formed roadblocks with flashing lights, posters warned of violating the governor’s shelter-in-place order — and where a police commander owns a three-flat on a block where he’s ordered the special enforcement.

Since Tuesday, officers in the Chicago Police Department’s Harrison District have been ordered to issue dispersal orders to groups of more than 10 people congregating on four West Side blocks, including the one on West Gladys Avenue where Harrison District Cmdr. Darrell Spencer owns a three-flat.

The officers have been told to check the IDs of people entering those four blocks to make sure they live there.

“This ain’t right,” said a man who gave his name only as Maurice, who was standing on a nearby corner. “We have people staying in here. They can’t tell us to leave.”

Cops in the Harrison District and the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois — who aren’t normally in agreement on questions of the constitution — have raised concerns about requiring people to “show their papers” to travel within the city.

On Tuesday, when the orders were first issued, officers in the Harrison District told the Chicago Sun-Times they were worried about getting into legal trouble and winding up getting sued for issuing an unconstitutional command.

On Friday afternoon, some police officers who were being asked to carry out the residency checks said they’re continuing to ignore them. They said they’re just showing a police presence there.

One man walking down a street greeted a group of officers and offered them a box of doughnuts, which they declined. The officers didn’t challenge him about whether he lived in the area or why he was there.

Police officials said the orders to check people’s identification for residency are proper and that the Harrison District has had the worst loitering problem of any of the city’s 22 districts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Harrison District cops have been issuing dozens of dispersal orders a day, far more than in any other part of the city. On Monday, 53 such orders were given, compared with 10 in the Ogden District, the next highest. The previous day, there were 89 orders in Harrison compared with four in Ogden. Most of the city’s 22 districts haven’t seen daily dispersal orders rise above the single digits.

Anthony Guglielmi, chief spokesman for the department, said Friday that Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s shelter-in-place order, signed March 21, prohibits public gatherings of more than 10 people and requires people to stay at home and that the police can enforce the executive order.

Spencer owns a three-flat in the 3800 block of West Gladys Avenue, one of the restricted blocks. His order had barred westbound traffic in that block.

Chicago Police Department

Spencer also owns two other properties on the West Side, records show. He has mortgages on all three buildings, according to the Cook County recorder of deeds.

Some cops and West Side residents said Spencer’s ownership of the building on Gladys appears to pose a conflict of interest, like he’s requiring the police pay special attention to his own rental building.

Guglielmi denied that, saying the decision about which blocks get special enforcement attention wasn’t Spencer’s alone. The commander presented data to interim police Supt. Charlie Beck, who approved the orders, according to Guglielmi.

He said the department’s general counsel has not officially reviewed and approved the legality of the orders.

He also said most of the dispersal orders aren’t leading to arrests, that only three such arrests have been made during the pandemic.

Spencer couldn’t be reached for comment.

Frank Main / Sun-Times

Guglielmi said the police also have taken other steps to reduce crowds on the West Side. He said Deputy Chief Ernest Cato got liquor stores on the West Side to shut down during the pandemic because crowds were gathering unsafely around the stores.

Friday morning, officers began posting signs at the four hot spots designated by Spencer — Van Buren Street at Pulaski Road, Gladys Avenue at Independence Boulevard, Jackson Boulevard at Springfield Avenue and Monticello Avenue at Thomas Street — stating that the governor’s order was being enforced there.

By Friday afternoon, though, the department had asked officers to take the signs down, with plans to replace them because the word “Governor” was misspelled.

Contributing: Sam Charles