Nearly $2 million of that toll went to pay private lawyers to defend the conduct of CPD officers from late May until mid-August 2020, one of the most tumultuous periods in Chicago history, according to records obtained by WTTW News.
Chicago Police Department
Judge Michael Mullen’s decision upheld the effort backed by the city’s largest police union to upend the system used for 60 years to punish officers for serious misconduct, but “split the baby,” said Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara.
Chicago police Officer Luis M. Huesca, who was fatally shot as he returned to his Gage Park home following his shift early Sunday, was among three people killed by gunfire across Chicago over the weekend.
The five officers who conducted the traffic stop that led to the death of Dexter Reed and the wounding of one officer had been the subject of 36 complaints that they were improperly stopping Chicagoans driving through the city’s West Side, according to records provided to WTTW News by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
A 2016 probe by the U.S. Department of Justice found that Chicago police officers were rarely held accountable for misconduct because of badly broken systems as well as a “code of silence” among officers that allowed them to act with impunity. CPD has fully complied with just 6% of the court order known as the consent decree designed to require the police department to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers.
According to the Chicago Police Department, 48 people were shot in separate incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday, marking one of the most violent weekends in the city thus far this year.
Four victims were children, police said Sunday. An 8-year-old girl was fatally shot, while a 1-year-old boy and a 8-year-old boy were each shot multiple times and listed in critical condition.
Superintendent Larry Snelling’s remarks come nearly two months after the first sign of deep tension between CPD and COPA emerged, and reflect a widening breach between the two agencies, sources told WTTW News.
“These robberies have created trauma for the victims and fear in our communities,” Superintendent Larry Snelling said. “We want everyone in this city to not only feel safe, but to actually be safe.”
The footage of Chicago police officers firing 96 shots at Dexter Reed following a traffic stop has caused outrage with the city’s Black community and led to demands for change — and accountability — for the police officers involved.
The rules that govern when — and how — Chicago police officers can use force against members of the public are complicated and subject to interpretation, despite years of efforts to make it less likely that an altercation between an officer and a Chicagoan turns deadly. Those rules face new scrutiny after officers shot and killed Dexter Reed on March 21.
Julius Reed is facing misdemeanor charges of resisting a peace officer and one count of battery following his arrest Tuesday.
COPA calls for officers to be relieved of police powers during investigation
COPA in a statement said preliminary evidence “appears to confirm” that Reed fired first before officers responded by firing 96 shots in a matter 41 seconds. The agency has recommended to CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling that four of the officers involved be relieved of their police powers during the pendency of this investigation.
Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten wrote in a letter to Chicago police Superintendent Larry Snelling that her agency has “grave concerns about the officers’ ability to assess what is a necessary, reasonable, and proportional use of deadly force.”
It is not clear when Mayor Brandon Johnson will make his pick from among 15 people nominated by members of Chicago’s police district council members and send those seven names to the City Council for confirmation to serve four-year terms.
According to the Chicago Police Department, 23 people were shot between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday.
