Police Reform
Coverage of civil action, news events and policy change pertaining to policing in Chicago, Illinois and the U.S.
At the 11th Police District Council monthly meeting, activists and community members reiterate calls for the officers who shot Dexter Reed during a traffic stop in Humboldt Park to be dismissed. A COPA member was a no-show.
Alexandra Block, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, said the Chicago police department’s approach to reform has amounted to “a box-checking exercise,” and the promises of overhauling the culture haven’t been kept.
Julius Reed, 24, the brother of Dexter Reed who was fatally shot at a traffic stop by Chicago police last month, was charged with misdemeanor battery and resisting arrest.
Family and community activists called for the firing of officers who shot and killed Dexter Reed. Two people were injured as protesters clashed and blocked an intersection outside a police station.
COPA Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten raised “grave concerns” about the officers in a letter to Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling last week.
An exchange of gunfire during a traffic stop last month killed the driver and wounded one of the several Chicago police officers involved in the gunfight.
Before coming to the U.S., Celal Surgit played goalie for a pro soccer team in his native Turkey and built an import-export business in Russia.
Dexter Reed, 26, was fatally shot after a shootout that wounded a Chicago police officer Thursday evening in Humboldt Park.
Dexter Reed, 26, was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital Thursday evening. The wounded officer was rushed to Stroger Hospital in good condition.
“The restriction of public access to arbitrations for serious police discipline is in direct contravention to the well-defined and dominant public policy of accountability and transparency of the government services in general and the Chicago Police Department specifically,” Judge Michael Mullen wrote Thursday.
“The unfortunate reality is that relationships between supervisors and subordinates can be fraught,” U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo wrote. “It may well be that Donald in fact did not want or enjoy her relationship with Johnson. The problem is one of proof.”
Judge Michael Mullen said a written decision would likely come down Tuesday morning, though he noted his ruling could come as early late Monday.
The largest of the settlements — for $45 million — goes to Nathen Jones, who suffered a massive traumatic brain injury after an unauthorized police chase. The settlements were approved at a Council meeting that also saw Mayor Brandon Johnson introduce an ordinance authorizing drawing of boundaries for a security footprint around the Democratic National Convention.
Lorenzo Davis was fired in 2015 from his job as a supervisor of Chicago’s Independent Police Review Authority, since replaced by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
“I don’t talk about all the hard work and dedication it takes to take care of my son and the effort and the hard work that his siblings put in. … This is gonna be the rest of our lives,” Erika Boyd told reporters shortly after the city authorized a $45 million settlement to cover her son’s medical care.
The officer who shot and killed 19-year-old Roshad McIntosh in 2014 was cleared of wrongdoing twice by Chicago police oversight agencies.
Jackie Wilson’s third trial for the 1982 murder of two Chicago Police officers collapsed amid allegations of prosecutor misconduct and police torture.
The April 2021 pursuit that led to the devastating injuries suffered by Nathen Jones was one of a long line of Chicago police chases ending tragically. It also violated a newly-revised CPD policy intended to rein in vehicular pursuits. The payment, one of the largest in Chicago history, will help with the around-the-clock care Jones will need for the rest of his life.
The process of firing Sgt. Michael Vitellaro for allegedly using excessive force and lying about what happened was already in motion when he was acquitted last June on criminal charges stemming from the 2022 incident.
Some Chicago police officers are upset that a CPD video promoting the upcoming sergeants’ exam leaves out a certain category of cop.
Chicago police initially claimed officers were fired upon by a man, but the Civilian Office of Police Accountability released information Tuesday indicating the person involved was a child and did not shoot at police.
Mayor Brandon’s Johnson’s administration negotiated an extension under less favorable terms than the original deal, which could violate city code, sources say. But the city’s Law Department says “a myriad of code provisions” permit the mayor’s extension.
Judge Michael T. Mullen on Monday lifted a freeze on proceedings before the Chicago Police Board. He said he will rule on the case March 20.
A CPD officer was in the 2700 block of North Halsted Street when he saw two people running toward him about 3:20 p.m. One person had a gun. The officer fired a shot. The two people fled.
Ald. Matt O’Shea described overflowing dumpsters and litter-strewn parking lots, broken fences and light fixtures and tipped-over shopping carts. But “in a predominantly white suburb, I don’t see that. I see clean, well-maintained stores and parking lots,” O’Shea said.
The battle over police discipline stems from an arbitrator’s finding that state labor law affords the union’s rank-and-file members the right to seek “final and binding arbitration,” like other public sector employees.
The Fraternal Order of Police’s motion for summary judgment was filed after alderpersons voted once again to reject an arbitrator’s finding that officers facing dismissal or suspensions over one year have the right to circumvent the Chicago Police Board.
After an attempt to pass an ordinance in City Council in 2022 failed, Young hopes reforms will be addressed in the ongoing federal consent decree process with the Chicago Police Department.
Thursday’s vote — after an emotional debate that forced Mayor Brandon Johnson to call for decorum four times — reaffirms the Council’s symbolic commitment to police reform and accountability, but the victory for Johnson and his allies may be both short-lived and Pyrrhic.
Martina Standley’s family says she was suffering a “mental health crisis” on Nov. 13, 2019 when she walked up to a police department SUV with Chicago Police Officer Brian Greene behind the wheel. After she touched the spotlight on the vehicle, Greene sped off, driving over her.