Politics

Top Cop: COPA Should Probe Chicago Police Conduct During Immigration Raids Because Public Wouldn’t ‘Trust’ Internal Affairs

Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling said he backed an effort to give the agency charged with probing police misconduct the authority to investigate whether CPD officers and leaders have violated city law by helping federal immigration agents because no one would “trust” probes conducted by internal affairs.

That measure would give the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, known as COPA, the authority to investigate whether CPD officers helped federal agents carry out deportations. A final vote by the Chicago City Council is set for Feb. 18.

Snelling’s remarks came during the meeting of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability on Jan. 29 while he pushed back on the police oversight board’s decision to require him to explain why the number of times police officers used force against individuals has significantly increased since 2022.

Several members of the public urged the commission, known as the CCPSA, to do more to ensure that CPD officers comply with the Welcoming City Ordinance, which prohibits all city employees from helping federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in nearly all cases.

“When it comes to the Chicago Police Department, there’s always going to be this trust factor,” Snelling said. “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.”

CPD, which has faced decades of scandals, misconduct and brutality, is under a federal court order, known as the consent decree, that requires CPD to overhaul the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers. A federal probe found officers routinely violated the civil rights of Black and Latino Chicagoans.

Snelling’s statement is the first indication that CPD had opened internal affairs investigations into officers’ conduct during the aggressive immigration raids launched by President Donald Trump to carry out the largest mass deportation effort in U.S. history.

Members of the City Council have been repeatedly told that no city agency had the power to probe officers’ conduct during the immigration enforcement actions.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office told the federal judge overseeing the reform effort on Jan. 19 that the backlog of internal affairs complaints filed with CPD has made it nearly impossible to hold officers accountable for misconduct.

The number of internal affairs complaints filed against CPD officers hit a record high in 2025, records show. Nearly half of the pending complaints were filed more than six months ago, even though the consent decree requires all complaints to be resolved within six months.

It is not clear that the Bureau of Internal Affairs would have the capacity to quickly investigate dozens of new complaints since Snelling told U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer that CPD was working to reduce the backlog.

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 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’s statement is the second time he has weighed in on the proposal, even though a spokesperson for CPD told WTTW News he would not comment on proposals pending before the City Council because “draft ordinances are out of the control of CPD, and we have no comment on any proposed ordinances.”

In a letter to members of the City Council, Snelling said he backed the measure because it “furthers transparency around CPD’s response to incidents stemming from civil immigration enforcement.”

“CPD has a duty to cooperate with agencies tasked with investigating misconduct,” Snelling wrote, adding that “the department understands that our operational response to incidents stemming from civil immigration enforcement by federal authorities are a matter of high public interest and concern.”

CPD officials will act “solely to deescalate, ensure public safety and restore peace,” Snelling wrote. “This is how the Chicago Police Department has responded and will continue to do so in the future.”

During his remarks at the CCPSA meeting, Snelling said several times that he did not wish to be involved in political matters.

“This isn’t about politics for me,” Snelling said. “I do not dabble in politics. This is about getting a job done and making sure that we’re building that trust between our community members and our police officers so that we continue to drive crime down.”

Snelling vowed to ensure that CPD operates as transparently as possible.

“But I promise you, moving forward, I’m going to do a much better job of educating the public on what needs to be done to make sure that our residents are safe here in the city of Chicago,” Snelling said.

LaKenya White, COPA’s interim chief administrator, 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.

The police oversight board picked White to lead COPA permanently, sending her nomination to the City Council for confirmation.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]

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WTTW News coverage of policing and police reform is supported by The Joyce Foundation.

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