The Chicago police officer who shot into a moving car that investigators concluded posed no threat to officers, wounding two men in June 2020, will not be fired, according to documents obtained by WTTW News. Instead, Officer Charles Harris II should face a suspension of 30 days, former Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling determined, rejecting the recommendation from the Civilian Office of Police Accountability to fire Harris for his actions on June 12, 2020, in Englewood near 71st and Halsted streets, records show. Some backstory:
The disagreement between the city’s former top cop and the agency better known as COPA meant it was up to Chicago Police Board Member Arlette Porter, who was randomly chosen in keeping with the city’s rules, to determine whether Snelling met “his burden of overcoming” former Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten’s recommendation, which was initially upheld by her replacement, LaKenya White. After Porter asked CPD brass and COPA officials in February to provide her with an analysis about whether the city was prevented from disciplining Harris for using excessive force against the men he shot because the five-year statute of limitations had expired, White dropped COPA’s appeal of Snelling’s objection. COPA determined Harris should face a 29-day suspension for failing to activate his body-worn camera as required and failing to notify his supervisors that he had fired his gun, records show.
The records published Thursday by COPA do not make clear why the probe of the June 12, 2020, shooting was not completed until Jan. 23, 2024. It was also not clear why COPA chose a 29-day suspension after Snelling recommended 30 days. Snelling, who retired from CPD a month ago, frequently objected to COPA’s findings, especially when the agency recommended officers face significant discipline. In February 2024, Snelling blasted Kersten at a meeting of the Chicago Police Board and accused her of treating CPD officers so unfairly that they were at risk of suicide while compromising public safety. Snelling refused Kersten’s recommendation to fire Harris a month after that confrontation, records show.
Harris, who earns more than $111,200 annually, has been stripped of his badge and assigned to administrative duties, according to a CPD spokesperson. Harris could not be reached for comment by WTTW News.
