The dispute over the future of the gang database represents the first clash between the Police Department’s leaders and the commission made up of Chicagoans given the authority to set policy for the department in an attempt to restore trust in its operations.
Joseph Ferguson
The interim Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability will hold a virtual meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday to discuss a draft of the policy that would govern the new gang database, dubbed the Criminal Enterprise Information System.
A summary of the results of the probe conducted by former Inspector General Joseph Ferguson was released in January, as required by city law. However, Lightfoot has rejected calls from Little Village residents and environmental justice organizations to release the full results of the investigation into the implosion at the former Crawford coal power plant, which sent a plume of dust over six blocks of homes in April 2020.
Police officials, including Superintendent David Brown, have repeatedly told members of the Chicago City Council that the new gang database — dubbed the Criminal Enterprise Information System — would be up and running shortly, only to see those deadlines repeatedly missed without explanation.
A unanimous endorsement of the Ethics and Government Oversight Committee means Deborah Witzburg’s nomination is set to win the approval of the full City Council April 27.
Two sources told WTTW News that Lightfoot will ask the Chicago City Council to confirm Deborah Witzburg as the city’s inspector general. Witzburg resigned as Chicago’s deputy inspector general for public safety on Nov. 1, saying she would apply for the top job.
In her first public remarks on the search for a replacement for former Inspector General Joseph Ferguson, Lightfoot said the five-member search committee charged with reviewing applications from those who want to investigate allegations of wrongdoing and malfeasance by city employees, contractors and vendors was working diligently to recommend finalists.
Black Chicagoans were “overwhelmingly disproportionately” stopped by Chicago Police officers across the city, including in parts of the city that Chicago Police consider to be “high crime” areas, according to the report issued by interim Inspector General William Marbeck.
While Chicago has been without a permanent inspector general, former 11th Ward Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson became the 37th alderperson to be convicted of a crime since 1969. Alds. Ed Burke (14th Ward) and Carrie Austin (34th Ward) are awaiting trial after pleading not guilty to bribery and corruption charges.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot did not respond to a question from WTTW News about whether she thought it was appropriate for her appointees to reject the inspector general’s recommendation to fire an employee of the Chicago Department of Public Health and punish two other employees of the Department of Buildings responsible for approving and overseeing the implosion of the smokestack.
The unreleased report attempts to tell the “full story — thoroughly documented and sourced — of how the city’s government worked to prevent a victim of what was plainly either official misconduct or error from obtaining video proof of the raid on her home, thereby frustrating her efforts to secure redress for the injuries inflicted on her, however unintentionally, by government actors.”
The first report from interim Inspector General William Marback disclosed that Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration declined to fire an employee of the Chicago Department of Public Health or punish two other employees of the Department of Buildings responsible for approving and overseeing the implosion of the smokestack.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot did not purposefully conceal information about the handling of the February 2019 raid that left Anjanette Young handcuffed while naked and pleading for help, according to the results of a probe ordered by the mayor released Thursday.
On Monday, members of City Council's finance committee unanimously endorsed a recommendation to pay $2.9 million to Anjanette Young to resolve the lawsuit she brought after police officers handcuffed her while she was naked and ignored her pleas for help during a botched raid in February 2019.
The agenda for the meeting of the City Council’s Finance Committee set for 10 a.m. Monday does not identify the amount the city would pay Anjanette Young and her attorneys to resolve the case, an indication that a final agreement is close, but is not yet final, sources told WTTW News.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot rejected the probe of the botched police raid in February 2019 that left Anjanette Young handcuffed while naked and pleading for help conducted by former Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson as incomplete and once again declined to commit to publicly release its findings.
