The partly obscured window of the holding cell at the Grand Crossing (3rd District) Police District where Irene Chavez died in December 2021. (Civilian Office of Police Accountability)
Eight Chicago Police Department officers responsible for the 33-year-old woman who died by suicide while being detained inside a South Side police station in December 2021 should be suspended for no more than two months, the city’s top cop and the agency charged with investigating police misconduct agreed.
Initially, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability recommended that four police officers, a sergeant, a lieutenant and two commanders should be suspended for six months or terminated, as first reported by WTTW News.
But former Supt. Fred Waller rejected that recommendation, blocking any punishment for the officers, according to a July 2023 letter obtained by WTTW News through a Freedom of Information Act Request.
Irene Chavez died by suicide several hours after being arrested for punching and spitting at security guards at a South Side bar. While detaining Chavez in a holding cell at the Grand Crossing (3rd District) Police District, officers ignored her pleas to speak with her therapist and get her medication, according to city lawyers.
The Chicago City Council is scheduled to vote May 22 on a proposal to pay her family $1.75 million to resolve a wrongful death lawsuit against the city. City lawyers told alderpeople the city was likely to be found liable for Chavez’s death because the window to the holding cell she was being held in was partially obscured with paper, obstructing the ability of the officers in charge of Chavez from observing her.
Supt. Larry Snelling and Andrea Kersten, the chief administrator of the agency known as COPA, resolved that dispute, according to a statement posted on the agency’s website on Thursday, two days after WTTW News reported on the dispute.
Waller, who was replaced by Snelling in September, and Kersten had already agreed on discipline for three officers: a two-month suspension for an officer for “failing to ensure the safety and security of the arrestee;” a five-day suspension for another officer for swearing at Chavez; and five-day suspension for a third officer for failing to turn on his body-worn camera.
COPA recommended in April 2023 that four police officers, a sergeant, a lieutenant and two commanders be suspended for six months or terminated. Waller rejected that recommendation in July 2023, telling Kersten her recommendation was “extreme, punitive, and not in line with progressive discipline,” according to a letter obtained by WTTW News via a Freedom of Information Act Request.
Instead, Waller recommended that three officers be suspended for no more than two months, while two officers face no discipline at all.
Kersten and Snelling agreed to suspend two officers for 60 days each and two other officers for 10 days each.
COPA also determined a sergeant, lieutenant and two commanders responsible for overseeing those officers should be suspended for six months or terminated, records show. Waller objected to that recommendation, too.
Waller recommended that the lieutenant face no discipline, that the sergeant be suspended for 15 days, one commander be suspended for seven days and the other commander for 14 days, records show, records show.
The new agreement between Snelling and Kersten calls for the lieutenant to serve a 10-day suspension, the sergeant to serve a 30-day suspension, one commander to serve a 21-day suspension and the other commander to serve a 14-day suspension, records show.
The final agreement calls for a total of 11 officers to serve a total suspension of 275 days, records show.
The officers facing discipline can still challenge that determination in a closed-door hearing with an arbitrator, under city law.
Seven years ago, a probe by the U.S. Department of Justice found that Chicago police officers were rarely held accountable for misconduct because of badly broken systems as well as a “code of silence” among officers that allowed them to act with impunity.
That probe prompted a federal court order, known as the consent decree that is designed to compel the Chicago Police Department to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers. CPD is in full compliance with just 6% of that 2019 court order, according to the monitoring team charged with enforcing the order.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or suicidal ideation, you can call or text 988 to access the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or find help online at 988lifeline.org.
