Politics
Illinois Supreme Court to Decide Whether Serious CPD Discipline Hearings Must Take Place in Public
(WTTW News)
The Illinois Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to decide whether Chicago police officers accused of serious misconduct have the right to ask an arbitrator — and not the Chicago Police Board — to decide their fate, but those proceedings must take place in public.
The decision by the state’s highest court keeps the system Chicago officials used for 60 years to hold officers accused of the most egregious misconduct in a deep freeze. Oral arguments will take place in 2026.
An appeals court decision in August upheld Cook County Judge Michael Mullen’s March 2024 ruling that allowing cases that could allow officers to be fired or suspended for more than a year to take place behind closed doors goes “against a dominant and well-defined public policy.”
That decision upheld the effort backed by the city’s largest police union to upend Chicago’s police disciplinary system but affirmed a ruling that rejected the Fraternal Order of Police’s demand that an arbitrator decide behind closed doors whether officers facing serious allegations of misconduct should be terminated or suspended for more than a year.
The Chicago Police Board holds its meetings in public and allows input from Chicagoans, while arbitrations traditionally take place behind closed doors and are not open to public scrutiny.
The Supreme Court’s decision keeps 21 cases in limbo — including eight that seek to terminate officers accused of shooting Chicagoans without justification, including the officer that shot and killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo in 2021.
Two other officers face lengthy suspensions or terminations for using excessive force against members of the public, police board records show.
Another five officers face termination after being accused of committing domestic violence, police board records show.
Once the legal fight is over, it will likely take months for city officials to set up a new system to work through the now massive backlog of cases.
WTTW News coverage of policing and police reform is supported by The Joyce Foundation.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
