Vol. 2, Issue 32: Chicago's Criminal Justice Playbook
At Issue: Navigating the Police Union Contract Negotiations in Chicago
Contracts with unions representing police officers have come under sustained scrutiny—particularly in reports from the mayor’s Police Accountability Task Force (PATF) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)—over the past year.
This week, City Bureau is unveiling a preview of its #FOPtracker, which annotates the city’s contract with the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) with analysis, media reports, legal studies, and academic research. In partnership with the Invisible Institute, City Bureau’s Public Newsroom will host a guided discussion and workshop Thursday night in Woodlawn, using the Tracker and local experts to provide context for the upcoming police union contract negotiations.
Negotiations are now underway with unions representing Chicago Police Department (CPD) sergeants, captains, and lieutenants, whose contracts expired last year, The Chicago Reporter noted last month. The contract for officers expires on June 30.
PATF identified about a dozen contract provisions that create “unnecessary barriers to identifying and addressing police misconduct” and are “out of step with national trends.” Among these provisions is the requirement that citizens filing complaints must sign affidavits. Officers must also be informed of complainants’ names, are allowed to revise statements if they conflict with video evidence, and cannot be investigated for complaints older than five years without superintendent approval. Additionally, most disciplinary records must be destroyed after five years.
A 24-hour waiting period before civilian investigators can question police involved in shootings was also cited as contributing to the department’s “code of silence” by giving officers time to coordinate stories. The Laquan McDonald case was one of many “where police officers give remarkably similar reports of incidents, and later evidence makes clear that the reports were simply not true.”
According to the task force, the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) closed nearly 60 percent of cases because no affidavit was provided, with overworked investigators often unable to track down complainants to obtain signatures. The DOJ reported, “We identified a significant number of incidents where the evidence supports concluding that CPD officers intimidated potential complainants or witnesses”—including filing “baseless police assault and battery charges” against them.
Reuters recently reviewed police union contracts in 82 cities and found that most require the removal of disciplinary records from officers’ files. Twenty cities, including Chicago, allow officers to substitute vacation time for disciplinary suspensions, effectively preventing any loss of pay. Reuters also highlighted a provision in the FOP contract with CPD that protects officers found drinking on the job from disciplinary action.
According to police accountability expert Sam Walker, police unions across the country have continued to oppose basic reforms.
For decades, the city has focused on limiting the financial costs of contracts, while unions have responded by securing increasing protections for officers accused of misconduct, The Chicago Tribune reported last year.
In the last round of contract negotiations, the Emanuel administration initially sought union support for pension reform. After sergeants rejected a contract that would have increased their pension contributions, negotiations dragged on, slowed in part by a leadership change at FOP Lodge 2. By mid-2014, Emanuel was reportedly “using the lure of [retroactive] pay to make pre-election peace with the last remaining city union still working under an expired contract.”
Attorney James Franczak, who represents the city in contract negotiations, told The Tribune he expects the city to seek changes in several provisions impacting accountability, including the ban on anonymous complaints and the 24-hour waiting period.
Dean Angelo Sr., president of FOP Lodge 2, has said the city will have to provide financial incentives if it wants the union to consider negotiating away protections for officers. The Tribune has pointed out that taxpayers have already “ponied up” more than half a billion dollars over the past decade for police misconduct lawsuits.
However, if past patterns hold, it is likely that negotiations will go to arbitration. In that case, language from the PATF and DOJ reports citing national standards will help inform the arbitrator’s decision.
Advocates have also pointed to the state’s Law Enforcement Bill of Rights, which closely aligns with several provisions in union contracts. However, the law includes language giving local contracts priority: “(Section 6) The provisions of this act apply only to the extent there is no collective bargaining agreement currently in effect dealing with the subject matter of this act.”
NO CHARGES IN LEGRIER, JONES DEATHS
The Cook County State’s Attorney declined to charge Officer Robert Rialmo in the fatal shooting of Quintonio LeGrier and Bettie Jones in December 2015, stating that prosecutors could not prove Rialmo was not acting in self-defense.
Police responded after LeGrier and his father called 911 while the 19-year-old was apparently experiencing a mental health crisis. Jones opened the door for police when they arrived.
The families of LeGrier and Jones condemned the decision. A Jones family attorney stated that eyewitness accounts—and shell casings from Rialmo’s gun—placed him about 14 feet away from where LeGrier stood with a baseball bat at the time of the shooting.
State’s Attorney Kim Foxx recused herself from the decision because she had previously worked at the law firm representing Jones’ family.
Rialmo has sued the city, alleging that inadequate training left him unprepared to handle a mental health crisis. He has also sued LeGrier’s estate, claiming that the young man’s actions caused him emotional distress.
Wrongful death lawsuits filed by the families of LeGrier and Jones remain pending.
IRPA RECCOMENDS FIRING IN DARIUS PINEX KILLING
In a case highlighting numerous shortcomings in CPD’s accountability system, the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) recommended firing Officer Raoul Mosqueda, finding that he repeatedly lied about the circumstances of a 2011 traffic stop during which he and his partner, Gildardo Sierra, shot and killed Darius Pinex.
IPRA determined that Mosqueda lied in a statement to investigators, in a deposition, and on the stand during a lawsuit brought by Pinex’s family. The agency also found that the traffic stop lacked legal justification but concluded there was insufficient evidence to determine that Mosqueda and Sierra used excessive force in the incident.
A senior city attorney resigned in January 2016 after a judge threw out the verdict in the Pinex lawsuit, finding that the attorney had deliberately withheld evidence proving Mosqueda’s testimony was false. The city later settled the lawsuit for nearly $2.4 million.
In June, IPRA ruled that Sierra used excessive force in another 2011 shooting, in which he killed Flint Farmer. However, the agency was unable to recommend disciplinary action because Sierra had left the force the year before. In November, State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez declined to charge Sierra, stating that he reasonably mistook Farmer’s cellphone for a gun—despite video evidence showing Sierra unloading his weapon into Farmer while standing over his body.
Mosqueda was stripped of his police powers following IPRA’s report—just days after he joined Mayor Emanuel and top city officials at a promotion ceremony at Navy Pier, marking his appointment as a field training officer, The Chicago Tribune reported. The Tribune also recently reported that Mosqueda was one of two field training officer trainees involved in wrongful death lawsuits that have cost the city millions.
KIM FOXX DENIES TORTUE REVIEW
State’s Attorney Kim Foxx appears to have misread an Appellate Court opinion when she decided not to have her Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) reexamine Jamie Hauad’s torture claims, The Chicago Sun-Times writes in an editorial.
After the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission concluded in 2014 that evidence supported Hauad’s claims, the CIU under then-State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez “took a cursory look but decided not to intervene,” according to the Sun-Times.
Now, a state appellate court has reaffirmed the commission’s conclusion, writing, “We encourage the state’s attorney and the [CIU] to heed the recommendation of the torture commission to further investigate the case.”
In response, Foxx’s office issued a statement saying, “We are pleased that the appellate court carefully reviewed the record and rejected the defendant’s unsupported claims.”
That statement “appears to be a misreading of the appellate court’s opinion,” according to the Sun-Times. Hauad has served 18 years for a double murder he maintains he did not commit.
LAWSUIT BY MAN WOUNDED IN POLICE SHOOTING
Antwon Golatte filed a lawsuit last week against the city, two police officers who shot him during a 2015 traffic stop, and 100 unidentified officers whom he alleges conspired under a code of silence. The lawsuit was filed one day after Superintendent Eddie Johnson asked the Police Board to fire the two department members named in the suit.
Last July, the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) ruled that the shooting by Officer Jaime Gaete and Detective Harry Matheos was unjustified but did not recommend disciplinary action. At the time, the incident capped a period of alleged harassment by police.
Following the shooting, Golatte was jailed for 44 days and charged with aggravated battery against police officers and destruction of government property. He was acquitted of all charges in January.
AFRICAN AMERICANS STILL TARGETED IN STREET STOPS
The number of street stops by Chicago police has plummeted, yet Black individuals continue to account for the vast majority—71 percent—of those detained and frisked, The Chicago Sun-Times reported. In 59 percent of cases, officers selected “other” as the reason for the stop on departmental reporting forms. (Narrative portions of the form, which could provide further details, were not released.) Weapons were recovered in 2 percent of stops, while drugs or other “contraband” were found in 4 percent.
The first report from a federal magistrate judge tasked with reviewing data on stops under the agreement with the ACLU is expected within weeks.
BOND REFORM PROPOSED
State Rep. Christian Mitchell has introduced legislation to abolish cash bonds in Illinois. The Equal Justice for All Act would prohibit the use of money bonds, release nonviolent offenders on their own recognizance while providing pretrial support services to ensure court appearances, and preserve judicial discretion to order detention or electronic monitoring for individuals deemed a risk to others.
As previously reported, County President Toni Preckwinkle, State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, and Sheriff Tom Dart have joined a growing consensus in support of eliminating cash bail to reduce pretrial detention levels.