Vol. 2, Issue 33: Chicago's Criminal Justice Playbook
At Issue: This Week's Round-up
EMANUEL MEETS WITH SESSIONS
Mayor Rahm Emanuel met with Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Valentine’s Day but did not discuss the prospects of a consent decree to provide court oversight for recommendations from the Justice Department’s recent investigation of the Chicago Police Department.
Emanuel stated that he urged Sessions to assign more federal law enforcement agents to Chicago, invest in CPD’s expanding use of surveillance technology, and fund mentoring, summer jobs, and after-school programs.
He also noted that Justice Department officials would meet with local officials this week to discuss follow-up actions on the investigation. While Emanuel has signed an agreement in principle to negotiate a consent decree, Sessions has been critical of that approach.
PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS CALLS FOR A PLAN
The City Council’s Progressive Caucus has called on Mayor Rahm Emanuel to articulate his plan for implementing the police reforms recommended by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The caucus outlined a range of priorities, including the creation of a Community Oversight Board, improvements in officer training, and updates to the new disciplinary matrix, which was criticized in the DOJ report. Members also requested an update on contract negotiations with unions representing police officers and command staff, seeking assurances that changes recommended by “experts and community stakeholders” are being prioritized.
“If the goal is to build public trust in the police department and criminal justice system at large, we can’t allow this reform process to move forward in a disorganized, piecemeal way,” said Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th Ward). “Clarity and real leadership are needed in addressing this long-running crisis.”
AMTRAK OFFICER CHARGED
Amtrak officer LaRoyce Tankson has been charged with first-degree murder in the Feb. 8 shooting death of Chad Robertson outside Union Station.
This marks the second time in three months that State’s Attorney Kim Foxx has charged a police officer with murder since taking office.
Tankson’s attorney stated that he fired in self-defense after seeing Robertson “gesture” as if he had a gun. However, prosecutors noted that no witnesses reported seeing such a gesture. Robertson ran when he was stopped on suspicion of marijuana possession and was approximately 75 feet away when he was shot.
Chicago police initially reported that Robertson was shot in the shoulder. However, an autopsy revealed that he was shot in the back and was quadriplegic during the week before his death. According to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by his family, doctors were unable to remove a bullet lodged near his spine.
Robertson, a 25-year-old construction worker from Minnesota, was a father of two.
The shooting was captured on video, which Amtrak has refused to release, citing the ongoing investigation.
CHARGES DROPPED
The Cook County State’s Attorney has dropped all charges against four men who, as teenagers, confessed to participating in a double murder in 1995.
Attorneys for the four men “credited the decision to a sweeping change in approach to potential wrongful convictions” under Kim Foxx, the newly elected state’s attorney, The Chicago Tribune reported.
In 2013, the Illinois Appellate Court ordered an evidentiary hearing for Charles Johnson, ruling that new fingerprint evidence would likely lead to his acquittal. Prosecutors under then-State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez vacated the convictions for Johnson and his co-defendant, Larod Styles, but stated they intended to retry both men.
Johnson and Styles were freed last year on bond. A third co-defendant, Troshawn McCoy, who had been petitioning for a new trial, is expected to be released shortly. A fourth, Lashawn Ezell, was convicted of armed robbery and has completed a 20-year sentence.
Johnson’s attorneys argued that he signed a confession after being misled into believing it was a routine document that would lead to his release.
STEMMING THE FLOW OF GUNS
Murder rates are significantly higher in cities and states with greater gun prevalence, and Chicagoans are far more likely to be shot and killed than residents of other large cities, according to Ellen Alberding, president of the Joyce Foundation. New York and Los Angeles, for example, “have stemmed the flow of illegal guns,” while Chicago has made little progress in addressing this issue, she writes in The Chicago Sun-Times.
Alberding identifies two major sources of guns in Chicago. Unregulated gun stores in Illinois provide many of the firearms recovered in the city, often through straw purchases, in which guns are legally purchased and quickly resold. She cites research indicating that Illinois could significantly reduce intrastate gun trafficking by implementing “strong gun dealer regulations and oversight, including licensing and regular inspections.”
Sixty percent of guns used in crimes originate in states with weaker gun laws, particularly Indiana and Wisconsin, where firearms are sold at gun shows without background checks. Few federal prosecutions target gun cases in Chicago, in part because weak federal laws do not explicitly criminalize gun trafficking. However, Chicago also sees fewer federal gun prosecutions than other cities.
The Sun-Times editorial board notes that while 11,000 Illinois residents had their Firearm Owners’ Identification (FOID) cards revoked last year—due to felony charges, domestic violence convictions, drug addiction, or admission to a mental health facility—the Illinois State Police largely ignore a law requiring them to track these individuals' guns. State Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield) is drafting legislation that would require law enforcement to follow up when FOID cards are revoked.
OFFICER FIRED
The Police Board voted unanimously on Feb. 16 to fire Officer Francisco Perez for an off-duty shooting incident that occurred more than five years ago. The Chicago Tribune reported that “the case marked the first time since its inception in 2007 that the Independent Police Review Authority...recommended that a Chicago police officer be dismissed for a shooting.”
IPRA recommended Perez’s firing in June 2015, and then-Superintendent Garry McCarthy endorsed the recommendation.
LAWSUIT: LEAKS AT IPRA
A Chicago police officer whose former boyfriend was dating an Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) investigator has filed a lawsuit against the investigator, alleging that she helped track the officer and provided advice on filing complaints to damage the officer’s career.
This marks the second lawsuit alleging leaks by IPRA personnel. Lt. Glenn Evans, who was acquitted last year of criminal charges that he shoved a gun down a suspect’s throat, has accused an investigator of leaking to the media the results of a test that found Evans’ DNA on the gun.
NO DISCIPLINE FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Roughly nine out of ten allegations of domestic violence against Chicago police officers by their spouses or children result in no disciplinary action, according to an investigation by ABC 7. Domestic violence allegations against officers average more than 300 per year.