Chicago just finished up its deadliest Memorial Day weekend in eight years, with 12 people killed and 53 wounded. Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer, a time when the city has historically seen an increase in violence. Gov. J.B. Pritzker deployed teams of yellow-vested peacekeepers to hotspots of violence throughout the city, while over at North Avenue Beach, bags were being searched at checkpoints for prohibited items, including weapons and alcohol. North Avenue Beach was closed for several hours Friday afternoon after a fight erupted among a gathering of 80 to 100 teenagers, resulting in someone firing a gun.
As Chicago police try to manage summer crime, a new report from Chicago’s inspector general charges the Chicago Police Department with continuing to employ officers who’ve filed false reports.
Police officers who are found to have lied on the job or omitted crucial information are typically supposed to lose their badge. But an audit by Inspector General Deborah Witzburg reveals the Chicago Police Department has allowed more than 100 officers who’ve filed false reports to stay on the job. Some were even promoted after being found to have lied.
“We cannot send the message that some lies matter and others don’t,” Witzburg said. “It has an enormous impact on the criminal justice ecosystem. Those officers cannot testify in court. They cannot participate in the prosecution of crime. We can’t keep people safe from crimes we can’t prosecute. The other enormous impact here comes in the vein of the legitimacy of the police department. We cannot ask people to trust a police department that lets people get away with lying.”
The inspector general’s report recommends that all officers who have knowingly lied be fired.
Witzburg joined “Chicago Tonight” to discuss the report’s findings and recommendations.
