Vol. 2, Issue 27: Chicago's Criminal Justice Playbook
At Issue: The Mayor, the Feds, and Reform
Mayor Rahm Emanuel vowed to continue reforming the Chicago Police Department—which he characterized as a program of “training, technology, and transparency”—regardless of the outcome of a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into the department.
The DOJ is expected to issue its report on constitutional violations by CPD within the next week. Rather than negotiating a court-approved consent decree, the DOJ now aims to reach an “agreement in principle” regarding necessary reforms, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
A City Hall source told the Sun-Times that the mayor was resisting pressure from the DOJ to sign a letter of intent committing to negotiating a consent decree. Instead, he preferred to take a chance on lighter federal enforcement after Donald Trump is inaugurated as president.
President-elect Donald Trump (Gage Skidmore/Creative Commons)
Trump’s attorney general designee, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, said he was not aware of the DOJ investigation into the Chicago Police Department and would not commit to moving forward with it, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois told WBEZ. In the past, Sessions has voiced opposition to the use of consent decrees to reform police departments. As of Tuesday afternoon, Sessions' confirmation hearing was being live-streamed online via multiple outlets.
Emanuel told the Chicago Sun-Times that since his own Police Accountability Task Force issued its report in April, he has been “systematically going through and putting in place the recommendations of change I think are important.”
Police Board President Lori Lightfoot, who chaired the task force, told Crain’s Chicago Business that Emanuel has implemented “only a few” of the 126 recommendations in the April report.
LAQUAN MCDONALD INVESTIGATION CONTINUES: Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson was among the top brass who reviewed the October 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald and agreed that it was justified, despite viewing video footage that later resulted in murder charges against Officer Jason Van Dyke. This information comes from sworn testimony given during an Inspector General investigation into the follow-up to the shooting, The Chicago Tribune reported last month.
Johnson was deputy chief at the time. Then-Superintendent Garry McCarthy was also part of the group that reviewed the shooting.
Garry McCarthy and Martinez Sutton (City Bureau)
“Everyone agreed” that Van Dyke’s use of force was appropriate, Lt. Osvaldo Valdez told investigators, The Chicago Tribune reported. In addition, the lead detective on the case, David March, told investigators, “I was informed the entire command staff concurred with the findings and conclusions of my investigation.” March determined that Van Dyke’s actions were “absolutely proper.”
Johnson “strongly disagreed” with Valdez’s statement, a police spokesperson told the Tribune, but declined to elaborate.
The Tribune article reveals details of an Inspector General (IG) investigation into the aftermath of the McDonald shooting. The IG’s report on that investigation has not been publicly released.
The Tribune also reported that Inspector General Joseph Ferguson recommended firing Chief of Detectives Eugene Roy and Deputy Chief David McNaughton, in addition to nine lower-ranking officers. However, Johnson postponed taking action, allowing Roy and McNaughton to retire instead.
In addition, “multiple witnesses told the inspector general that detectives investigating the shooting refused to accept their accounts of what happened and threatened them,” The Chicago Tribune reported. To date, no disciplinary action for intimidating witnesses has been recommended.
One witness is suing the police department: Alma Benitez has alleged that she was detained and pressured to change her story, according to the Tribune.
Of the 15 department members the Inspector General (IG) recommended disciplining for their role in the investigation of McDonald’s shooting, Johnson has moved to fire only five. However, the superintendent is still weighing discipline against four others, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Meanwhile, special prosecutor Patricia Brown Holmes has issued subpoenas to “police officers who either abruptly resigned, were fired, or were told to resign by police department brass,” according to the Sun-Times.
WATTS CASES REVIEWED: CPD’s general counsel is reviewing allegations related to reversed convictions linked to corrupt former Sgt. Ronald Watts, WBEZ reports. The review “could lead to other cases,” a department spokesperson said.
As detailed last year by Jamie Kalven in The Intercept, Watts extorted protection money from drug dealers for over a decade and framed those who refused to cooperate.
WBEZ also reported that a South Side district commander was selected by Superintendent Eddie Johnson for a top position after promoting one of Watts’ underlings—ten months after Watts was arrested for stealing from a government informant.
Fred Waller—named patrol bureau chief by Johnson last year—was commander of the Wentworth District when he nominated Alvin Jones for sergeant. Jones was named alongside Watts in numerous misconduct complaints and worked on four Watts cases in which convictions were later overturned.
A department spokesperson stated that Waller was unaware of the complaints and “potential wrongdoing.”
Police whistleblower Shannon Spalding dismissed that claim, as did Lionel White, whose 2008 conviction following an arrest by Watts’ team was overturned last year. White alleges that Jones beat him during his arrest—a claim supported by hospital records, according to WBEZ.
Superintendent Johnson told WBEZ that the department would “go back and take a look at” Waller’s promotion of Jones.
Shannon Spalding (Chicago Tonight)