Politics
CPD Officer Accused of Violating Rights of Black Drivers During Downtown Traffic Stops Stripped of Police Powers
(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
A Chicago police officer repeatedly accused of improperly stopping and searching Black men during downtown traffic stops was abruptly relieved of his police powers on Friday, officials said.
Officer Richard Rodriguez is the fifth member of the Near North (18th) Police District tactical team to be stripped of his badge and gun after the agency tasked with investigating misconduct by Chicago police officers identified a troubling pattern of undocumented and unprofessional traffic stops of Black Chicagoans.
Rodriguez was identified by a database published by Inspector General Deborah Witzburg designed to identify “hot spots” of alleged misconduct as having the most complaints of any other officer beside Officer Joseph Vecchio, another member of the 18th District tactical team.
Vecchio has also been stripped of his police powers.
Rodriguez, who earns $111,252 annually as a police officer, did not respond to a request for comment from WTTW News.
In December, CPD brass agreed to suspend Rodriguez for 20 days after agreeing with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability that he improperly searched Limorris Bell and his car on Sept. 1, 2024, near Bellevue and Michigan avenues in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood.
Bell has sued the city, alleging the officers violated his constitutional rights, records show.
Rodriguez, who is facing 28 other complaints, is also named in eight pending lawsuits, court records show.
Five other complaints against Rodriguez have been sustained, resulting in suspensions totaling 18 days, records show. One of those complaints involved an improper search of a pedestrian after an investigatory stop, resulting in “substantial prior findings of misconduct,” records show.
Rodriguez was stripped of his police powers in the middle of a court-ordered deposition as part of a lawsuit filed by Jovan Streeter and Marquita Beecham, who claimed Rodriguez pulled them over twice without justification between May 2023 and August 2023.
The lawsuit alleges Rodriguez “repeatedly and forcefully banged” Streeter’s face into his car during the first stop and threatened to shoot Beecham during the August 2023 stop. Rodriguez was suspended for three days after the Bureau of Internal Affairs investigated that stop, according to the lawsuit.
After Rodriguez answered questions for 90 minutes, Rodriguez attorney told the attorney for Streeter and Beecham that Rodriguez would not answer any more questions because he needed to report to CPD headquarters to be relieved of his police powers, according to court records.
“This was – to put it mildly – an unusual development,” wrote plantiff’s attorney Jordan Marsh, who called the city’s actions “lawless” in a motion asking U.S. District Court Judge Mary Rowland to punish the city for stopping the deposition. “The City’s actions in interrupting and unilaterally terminating a court-ordered deposition of one of its police officers is unprecedented in the collective experience of plaintiffs’ counsel, and likely the experience of all counsel in this matter.”
A spokesperson for the Law Department declined to comment about the lawsuit.
Note: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Richard Rodriguez’s name.
WTTW News coverage of policing and police reform is supported by The Joyce Foundation.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
