Justice Department Says Chicago PD Routinely Violate Civil Rights

The Justice Department have announced that Chicago police officers routinely violate civil rights, target communities of color with excessive force and maintain a “code of silence” to hinder investigations into abuses.  After a 13 month investigation, the Department of Justice has concluded that there is reasonable cause to believe that the Chicago Police Department engages in a pattern or practice of use of excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.

The investigation began in December 2015 after the release of a video showing the death of 17-year-old African American Laquan McDonald, who was shot 16 times by white police officer Jason Van Dyke. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel agreed in principle to negotiate a consent decree for a federal monitor to oversee the Chicago Police Department.

The Chicago Police Department has a legacy of corruption and abuse. The over 161 page report came to light as the department grapples with skyrocketing violence in Chicago, where murders are at a 20-year high, and a deep lack of trust among the city’s residents.

The report cited unchecked aggressions such as an officer pointing a gun at teenagers on bicycles suspected of trespassing; officers using a Taser on an unarmed, naked 65-year-old woman with mental illness; officers purposely dropping off young gang members in rival territory.  The report stated that after officers used excessive force, their actions were practically condoned by supervisors, who rarely questioned their behavior. One commander interviewed by the Justice Department said that he could not recall ever suggesting that officers’ use of force be investigated further.

Chicago is among nearly two dozen cities — including Cleveland; Ferguson, Mo.; and Seattle — where the Justice Department has pushed for wholesale changes to police practices.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Mayor Emanuel presented the report at the federal courthouse in downtown Chicago.  They laid out the steps the city had committed to take to remedy the problems.  Lynch said the Justice Department had reviewed thousands of documents, conducted extensive interviews, and discovered widespread evidence that the Police Department was sorely in need of reform. It does not train officers properly, fails to properly collect and analyze data, and has little support from the community, the report said.

The report described a broad lack of oversight within the department. “We found that officers engage in tactically unsound and unnecessary foot pursuits, and that these foot pursuits too often end with officers unreasonably shooting someone — including unarmed individuals,” the report said. “We found that officers shoot at vehicles without justification and in contradiction to C.P.D. policy. We found further that officers exhibit poor discipline when discharging their weapons and engage in tactics that endanger themselves and public safety, including failing to await backup when they safely could and should; using unsound tactics in approaching vehicles; and using their own vehicles in a manner that is dangerous.”