Politics
CPD Should Revise Promotions Policy After Officer Under Investigation Promoted, Johnson Says
Mayor Brandon Johnson is pictured during a news conference on Dec. 8, 2025. (WTTW News)
The Chicago Police Department should change the way it promotes members after an officer who shot a 16-year-old in September 2017 in what investigators ruled was an unjustified use of deadly force was promoted in June 2025, Mayor Brandon Johnson said Monday.
WTTW News reported Friday that lawyers for the city dropped the charges that could have led to the termination of Officer Brian Collins, according to records published on Nov. 20 by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
Since Collins shot and wounded the 16-year-old, Chicago taxpayers have spent $591,500 to resolve four lawsuits that allege he violated the rights of other Chicagoans, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.
Collins, who earns $134,292 annually, was promoted to sergeant in June 2025 and works in the Near North (18th) Police District, which includes Lincoln Park and the Gold Coast, according to a statement from a CPD spokesperson.
Lawyers for the city declined to publicly explain that decision, citing confidentiality rules. Collins did not respond to a request for comment from WTTW News.
CPD’s promotions policy, long a flashpoint in efforts to reform the police department, is an example of where “government has not been completely modernized,” Johnson said.
“We have to revisit our promotion policy,” Johnson said, adding that he has spoken to Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling about this issue. “As we work to build strong relationships within the community and in that constitutional policing, much like other forms of tragedy, we can’t normalize them. We don’t want these types of archaic approaches to set us back. So, it is something that we are looking into.”
The Department of Justice determined in 2017 that officers routinely violated the constitutional rights of Black and Latino Chicagoans and urged the department to change the way it promotes officers to detective, sergeant or lieutenant.
Officers can advance through the ranks via two paths: by scoring higher than their peers on exams or by being selected by current police brass based on “merit.”
CPD started promoting officers based on merit after several lawsuits alleged the exams discriminated against Black, Latino, Asian and female officers.
In turn, the merit-based promotion process was challenged in court after officers claimed that it unfairly promoted officers based on their political connections, rather than their ability to supervise officers.
Approximately 70% of all CPD promotions are based on test scores, according to department data.
The federal investigation prompted the consent decree, the federal court order that requires CPD to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers.
Six and a half years after the consent decree was implemented, CPD by the end of June had fully complied with 22% of its requirements, according to the court-appointed monitoring team charged with keeping track of reform efforts.
That binding court order requires CPD to create a new process that allows CPD leaders to consider officers’ disciplinary histories when weighing promotions.
Snelling told U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer, who is overseeing the reform effort, during an August hearing that officers’ disciplinary records should be considered when they ask to be promoted.
“I do believe that disciplinary history should be taken into consideration when we’re making promotions, because these are people who are going to be leading other people,” Snelling said, according to a transcript of the hearing. “And just scoring well on a test is — I don’t believe that it’s enough to just lead other officers.”
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office urged CPD leaders to expedite work on those changes, but no progress has been reported publicly.
In 2019, then-Interim CPD Supt. Charlie Beck eliminated merit-based promotions, only to have former CPD Supt. David Brown resurrect merit-based promotions after he took over the department in 2020.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
