Politics
COPA Gets Power to Probe Chicago Police Conduct During Immigration Raids
(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
The agency charged with probing police misconduct now has the authority to investigate whether Chicago police officers and leaders have violated city law by helping federal immigration agents.
After a brief debate, the Chicago City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to explicitly grant the the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, known as COPA, the authority to investigate whether Chicago Police Department officers helped federal agents carry out deportations.
Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance prohibits all city employees from helping federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in nearly all cases.
Mayor Brandon Johnson called the proposal to give COPA the authority to investigate violations of the Welcoming City Ordinance a “common-sense measure” designed to “maintain the trust that we have built between law enforcement and immigrant communities throughout Chicago.”
Both Johnson and Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling have said CPD officers have complied with the Welcoming City Ordinance. Snelling has said CPD must respond to all calls for help and has a responsibility to keep the peace at all times, while ensuring Chicagoans can exercise their First Amendment rights.
Snelling backed the proposal to give COPA the power to investigate alleged violations of the Welcoming City Ordinance, telling a meeting of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability that an outside body should probe these hot-button complaints.
“When it comes to the Chicago Police Department, there’s always going to be this trust factor,” Snelling said Jan. 29. “And no matter what we say sometimes, people are not going to believe it. This is why I was in agreement with COPA taking the investigations as it relates to ICE. Why? Because right now, BIA is doing that work. So the question is, would anybody in here believe that it’s a fair investigation if the Bureau of Internal Affairs is doing that work? I would think not. So, I believe that there should be an outside body doing that work. There’s the credibility that would come.”
While serving as COPA’s interim chief administrator, LaKenya White told alderpeople that her agency was capable of investigating alleged violations of Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance. Forty complaints involving CPD’s interactions with federal agents have been filed since June, White said in January.
White was unanimously confirmed by the City Council on Wednesday to lead COPA permanently.
WTTW News coverage of policing and police reform is supported by The Joyce Foundation.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
