In each of the five cases, Inspector General Deborah Witzburg informed Civilian Office of Police Accountability Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten that the agency known as COPA had erred when it closed those cases because they involved serious allegations of police misconduct.
Andrea Kersten
While none of the officers who shot at Reed, who was hit 13 times, have returned to active duty, Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling has refused Civilian Office of Police Accountability Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten’s call to relieve them of their police powers.
Watchdog Asks Police Oversight Board for Evidence of Flawed Probes, Retaliation by Misconduct Agency
The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability has yet to provide the Office of the Inspector General with the evidence that prompted the commission to call for a probe into “the quality and integrity” of the investigations into police misconduct by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, according to a letter obtained by WTTW News.
Irene Chavez died while in police custody on Dec. 18, 2021. Eleven officers are set to be disciplined for failing to prevent her death, as first reported by WTTW News.
The final agreement calls for 11 officers to serve suspensions totaling 275 days for their conduct that led to the death by suicide of a 33-year-old woman in December 2021, records show.
Former interim Chicago Police Supt. Fred Waller objected to the recommendation made by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability that four police officers, a sergeant, a lieutenant and two commanders should be suspended for six months or terminated.
All five officers who stopped Dexter Reed near the border of Humboldt Park and Garfield Park remain on paid administrative leave and have not returned to active duty after completing a mandatory 30-day stint after the shooting, as required by department rules, a department spokesperson told WTTW News.
The five officers who conducted the traffic stop that led to the death of Dexter Reed and the wounding of one officer had been the subject of 36 complaints that they were improperly stopping Chicagoans driving through the city’s West Side, according to records provided to WTTW News by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
Superintendent Larry Snelling’s remarks come nearly two months after the first sign of deep tension between CPD and COPA emerged, and reflect a widening breach between the two agencies, sources told WTTW News.
The rules that govern when — and how — Chicago police officers can use force against members of the public are complicated and subject to interpretation, despite years of efforts to make it less likely that an altercation between an officer and a Chicagoan turns deadly. Those rules face new scrutiny after officers shot and killed Dexter Reed on March 21.
COPA calls for officers to be relieved of police powers during investigation
COPA in a statement said preliminary evidence “appears to confirm” that Reed fired first before officers responded by firing 96 shots in a matter 41 seconds. The agency has recommended to CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling that four of the officers involved be relieved of their police powers during the pendency of this investigation.
Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten wrote in a letter to Chicago police Superintendent Larry Snelling that her agency has “grave concerns about the officers’ ability to assess what is a necessary, reasonable, and proportional use of deadly force.”
Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling blasted Civilian Office of Police Accountability Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten for treating Chicago Police officers so unfairly that he says they are at risk of suicide and compromise public safety.
COPA Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten announced in June that she would seek to clear the agency’s backlog of cases more than 18 months old, which she said were compromising the ability of the agency to investigate more recent complaints alleging significant misconduct by officers.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability will launch its second People’s Academy — a six-week training course that’s open to the public and gives an in-depth look at some of the office’s operations, such as complaint investigations, body-worn camera video analysis and disciplinary recommendations.
The probe by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability remains ongoing. Hours after the sexual misconduct allegations became public, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration moved all of the migrants out of the Ogden (10th) Police District headquarters, which patrols Lawndale and Little Village, where the officers under investigation are assigned to work.
