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6 Months Later, Officers Who Shot Dexter Reed Remain on Leave: Police Officials

Chicago police officers surround an SUV driven by Dexter Reed moments before shots are fired on March 21, 2024. (Civilian Office of Police Accountability)Chicago police officers surround an SUV driven by Dexter Reed moments before shots are fired on March 21, 2024. (Civilian Office of Police Accountability)

The four Chicago police officers who fired 96 bullets in 41 seconds during a West Side traffic stop on March 21, killing Dexter Reed, remain on leave from the Chicago Police Department six months after his death, officials told WTTW News on Thursday.

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While none of the officers who shot at Reed, who was hit 13 times, have returned to active duty, Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling has refused a call from Civilian Office of Police Accountability Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten to relieve them of their police powers.

Snelling’s rejection of Kersten’s recommendation means the officers have continued to be paid by the city. Three of the officers earn more than $102,000 annually, while the fourth earns $93,000, according to a city database.

The city agency charged with investigating police misconduct, known as COPA, is still probing the shooting.

A preliminary investigation found officers opened fire, hitting Reed 13 times, shortly after he shot and wounded an officer.

Reed’s family sued the city, alleging his civil rights were violated by the officers who stopped him and shot him to death.

Lawyers for the city and Reed’s family are set to appear on Oct. 3 before U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Cummings in an attempt to settle the case. If they reach a settlement, the Chicago City Council would have to approve any payment of more than $100,000.

The five officers who stopped Reed were the subject of at least 36 complaints in 2023 and 2024 that alleged they were improperly stopping Chicagoans driving through the city’s West Side, according to records provided to WTTW News by COPA in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

Officers told COPA investigators at the scene of the fatal shooting they stopped Reed because they believed he was not wearing his seat belt, a violation, according to reports signed by the officers involved and released by COPA because they are public records.

Kersten told Snelling that he should strip the officers of their badges because of “grave concerns about the officers’ ability to assess what is a necessary, reasonable, and proportional use of deadly force,” according to a letter released by COPA in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by WTTW News.

One of the officers fired at least 50 times at Reed, including three times while he was motionless on the ground, according to Kersten’s letter to Snelling. That officer reloaded his weapon twice, while three other officers reloaded their weapon once, according to the letter.

That letter also questioned the basis for the traffic stop that led to Reed’s death.

“Specifically, COPA is uncertain how the officers could have seen this seat belt violation given their location relative to (Reed’s) vehicle and the dark tints on (his) vehicle windows,” Kersten wrote. “This evidence raises serious concerns about the validity of the traffic stop that led to the officers’ encounter with (Reed).”

Snelling blasted Kersten for those statements, calling them “irresponsible.”

WTTW News reported in September that a system designed to flag officers with multiple complaints, like the officers who shot and killed Reed, could have been rolled out citywide in May 2021 but remains in use in only one police district.

Reed’s death sparked outrage and fueled demands that CPD stop pulling over drivers because of improper registration issues or equipment violations, like the one that appears to have led to Reed’s death.

A federal judge is weighing whether to expand a court order requiring the Chicago Police Department to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers to include traffic stops.

The move has the support of Snelling and the team monitoring the city’s compliance with the court order, known as the consent decree.

However, the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, which has accused CPD of targeting Black and Latino drivers with a massive campaign of traffic stops, opposes that move. The ACLU filed a class-action lawsuit against the city in July 2023 in an effort to force CPD to revise its traffic stop policy.

In addition, eight progressive alderpeople want the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability to develop a new policy for traffic stops. That would not be possible if the consent decree is expanded to include the issue.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]


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