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Justice Department finds reasonable cause to believe CPD engages in unconstitutional pattern of deadly force

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* From the Justice Department…

The Justice Department announced today that it has found reasonable cause to believe that the Chicago Police Department (CPD) engages in a pattern or practice of using force, including deadly force, in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution. The department found that CPD officers’ practices unnecessarily endanger themselves and result in unnecessary and avoidable uses of force. The pattern or practice results from systemic deficiencies in training and accountability, including the failure to train officers in de-escalation and the failure to conduct meaningful investigations of uses of force.

The city of Chicago and the Justice Department have signed an agreement in principle to work together, with community input, to create a federal court-enforceable consent decree addressing the deficiencies found during the investigation.

“One of my highest priorities as Attorney General has been to ensure that every American enjoys police protection that is lawful, responsive, and transparent,” said Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch. “Sadly, our thorough investigation into the Chicago Police Department found that far too many residents of this proud city have not received that kind of policing. The resulting deficit in trust and accountability is not just bad for residents – it’s also bad for dedicated police officers trying to do their jobs safely and effectively. With this announcement, we are laying the groundwork for the difficult but necessary work of building a stronger, safer, and more united Chicago for all who call it home.”

“The failures we identified in our findings – that we heard about from residents and officers alike — have deeply eroded community trust,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Civil Rights Division. “But today is a moment of opportunity, where we begin to move from identifying problems to developing solutions. I know our findings can lead to reform and rebuild community-police trust because we’ve seen it happen in community after community around the country over the past 20 years.”

“The findings in our report, coupled with the City of Chicago and Police Department’s commitment to work together with us, are an historic turning point and a major step toward sustained change,” said U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Fardon of the Northern District of Illinois. “Implementing these findings is a necessary precursor to our long-term success in fighting violent crime in Chicago.”

On Dec. 7, 2015, Attorney General Lynch announced the investigation into the CPD and the city’s Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA). The investigation focused on CPD’s use of force, including racial, ethnic and other disparities in use of force, and its systems of accountability.

In the course of its pattern or practice investigation, the department interviewed and met with city leaders, current and former police officials, and numerous officers throughout all ranks of CPD. The department also accompanied line officers on over 60 ride-alongs in every police district; heard from over 1,000 community members and more than 90 community organizations; reviewed thousands of pages of police documents, including all relevant policies, procedures, training and materials; and analyzed a randomized, representative sample of force reports and the investigative files for incidents that occurred between January 2011 and April 2016, including over 170 officer-involved shooting investigations and documents related to over 400 additional force incidents.

The department found that CPD’s pattern or practice of unconstitutional force is largely attributable to deficiencies in its accountability systems and in how it investigates uses of force, responds to allegations of misconduct, trains and supervises officers, and collects and reports data on officer use of force. The department also found that the lack of effective community-oriented policing strategies and insufficient support for officer wellness and safety contributed to the pattern or practice of unconstitutional force.

In addition, the department also identified serious concerns about the prevalence of racially discriminatory conduct by some CPD officers and the degree to which that conduct is tolerated and in some respects caused by deficiencies in CPD’s systems of training, supervision and accountability. The department’s findings further note that the impact of CPD’s pattern or practice of unreasonable force falls heaviest on predominantly black and Latino neighborhoods, such that restoring police-community trust will require remedies addressing both discriminatory conduct and the disproportionality of illegal and unconstitutional patterns of force on minority communities.

In the agreement in principle, the Justice Department and the city of Chicago agreed that compliance with the consent decree will be reviewed by an independent monitor. The agreement in principle provides a general framework for change, but the department will be doing community outreach to solicit input in developing comprehensive reforms. In the days ahead, the department will continue speaking to local authorities, officers and ordinary citizens to gather their perspectives about the challenges facing the city – and the changes needed to address them. Comments from the public may be provided by email to Community.CPD@crt.usdoj.gov.

Throughout the department’s investigation, CPD leadership remained receptive to preliminary feedback and technical assistance, and started the process of implementing reforms. Under the leadership of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Superintendent Eddie Johnson, CPD has taken a number of encouraging steps, including creating the Civilian Office of Police Accountability to replace IPRA; issuing a new transparency policy mandating the release of videos and other materials related to certain officer misconduct investigations; beginning a pilot program for body-worn cameras, to be expanded CPD-wide; and committing to establish an anonymous hotline for employees to report misconduct. While these and other measures are an important start to cooperative reform, a comprehensive, court-enforceable agreement is needed to remedy all of the department’s findings and ensure lasting reform.

In addition, the department has been working with the city of Chicago as part of the Violence Reduction Network, a data-driven, evidence-based initiative that delivers strategic, intensive training and technical assistance. This assistance focuses on developing an overall violence reduction strategic framework; providing immediate technical assistance and expertise to CPD; analyzing high-crime neighborhoods for resource, social service and opportunity gaps; and assisting in building capacity in Chicago’s public safety offices. And in 2016, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois charged more illegal firearms cases in total, and more as a percentage of its overall cases, than it has in any year since 2004.

This investigation was conducted by the Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois with the assistance of law enforcement professionals, pursuant to the pattern-or-practice provision of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. Since 2009, the Special Litigation Section has opened 25 investigations into law enforcement agencies. The section is enforcing 20 agreements with law enforcement agencies, including 15 consent decrees and one post-judgment order. The division recently released a comprehensive report that provides an overview of the police reform work done pursuant to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which can be found at the following link: https://www.justice.gov/crt/file/922421/download.

The full report is here.

…Adding… The city’s response is here.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 10:23 am

Comments

This is going to take a generation to resolve.

Comment by Mahna Anon Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 10:32 am
So all this means is that the West and South sides will be ceded to the gangs. What cop is going to risk his life fighting the gangs the way they’ll likely be handcuffed? Nothing will be done with this violence issue until the victims have lighter complexions and are happening on the Gold Coast, River North, Wrigleyville, downtown, Beverly and Sauganash…

Comment by Illinois Bob Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 10:44 am
And this is going to reduce crime how? This DOJ is obsessed with punishing police, not so much with going after predators who terrorize minority communities. Racism is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose.

Comment by phocion Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 10:45 am
=== And this is going to reduce crime how? ===

It’s not.

Comment by Mahna Anon Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 10:48 am
My apologies. I voted for BO. This adminstrations obsession with race cannot end soon enough.

Comment by blue dog dem Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 10:49 am
Okay. Now we got it. Unfortunately it wont save one life this weekend or the next or the next. The body count continues.

Comment by proudstatetrooper Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 10:51 am
It seems that some commenters on this post believe that the only way to effectively combat crime is to ignore or violate the constitution.

Comment by TominChicago Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 10:54 am
A mayor who hid the Laquan McDonald video isn’t part of this line of fire? Also CPD leadership including todays Super reviewed that video and called it a justified shooting? How do these people still have jobs?

You cant blame the rank and file unless you say leadership did not know what was going on.

Comment by jeffinginchicago Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 11:02 am
These are not either or binary solutions which is often lost in the discussion. Systemic violence in a community and unconstitutional police conduct are mutually exclusive. If we point out misconduct we are neither excusing violence in our communities or arguing that we should be punishing police. This is not an “obsession with race” it’s an acknowledgement of the complexity of these problems.

Comment by Pundent Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 11:07 am
– This DOJ is obsessed with punishing police, not so much with going after predators who terrorize minority communities. –

Where’s the part where police are being punished in this report?

Should “minority communities” be subject to unconstitutional police practices that I bet you wouldn’t tolerate in yours? Such concern trolling.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 11:08 am
=== It seems that some commenters on this post believe that the only way to effectively combat crime is to ignore or violate the constitution. ===

Nobody here said that. What I did say is that this will not reduce crime and I stand by this statement. This report does nothing to change the minds and hearts of the rank and file of the Chicago Police Department, who believe they are under attack by the media, politicians, and now the federal government. The result has been, as the report notes, the largest single year increase in homicides in any of the five largest metropolitan areas in the United States over the past 25 years. Things are only going to get worse before they get better, and I don’t think that whatever consent decree results from this investigation will be considered substantially complied with for a very long time. Lets hope that some of the crime ravaged neighborhoods can make it that long.

Comment by Mahna Anon Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 11:15 am
Pundent nails it. Go read that comment again.

Comment by Arsenal Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 11:19 am
Nobody here said that. What I did say is that this will not reduce crime and I stand by this statement.

Intentional violations of the constitutional rights of blacks are crimes too so hopefully, the DOJ actions will trim that crime wave.

And what Pundent said.

Comment by TominChicago Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 11:21 am
Pundent. I respectfully disagree.

Yet another reason why I can’t call myself a Democrat any longer. How many decades has Chicago been under Dem control? And the elected officials didn’t know there was a problem? Seriously. I am sooooo confused. I know Repubs don’t care about social injustices, but I also know Dems don’t either. Its just words.

Comment by blue dog dem Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 11:22 am
–Pundent. I respectfully disagree.–

You disagree with what that Pundent wrote, specifically? Your comment after “disagree” addresses nothing that was written by Pundent.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 11:30 am
- blue dog dem - Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 11:22 am:
Please pick a fricken lane. First this DOJ report is the result of our president’s obsession on race and now you blame the City’s elected official for ignoring the systemic violation of African Americans?

Which is it? Is this report just the result of an obsession with race or has the City and its elected officials just ignored the social injustices reported there?

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 11:32 am
A lot of this problem is the way they select candidates for the police academy. Political clout and nepotism shouldn’t play a role. The acceptance procedure test should be fair, gender and color blind. It isn’t. When officers see their job as a political entitlement, they certainly often think the “rules” don’t apply to them. From what I’ve been told by people on the inside the numbers of these are relatively small, but they account for a large percentage of the problems. Too many are there to be bullies, and they keep getting pas after pass. Until that changes, the problems will continue, but the jobs are so sought after it’s hard to keep patronage and nepotism out of it.

Comment by Illinois Bob Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 11:40 am
It’s amazing that you all have not only read the full report already, but had to re-read and critically examine it to come to these conclusions! Maybe you geniuses should run for office!

Comment by Precinct Captain Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 11:41 am
=== Maybe you geniuses should run for office! ===

There is no way that I would do that to myself. LOL

Comment by Mahna Anon Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 12:03 pm
Different paragraphs. Different thoughts.

I believe BO is obsessed with race.

Comment by blue dog dem Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 12:12 pm
You folks get my age and try and string coherent thoughts Together.

Comment by blue dog dem Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 12:14 pm
Illinois Bob,

How were things working when the CPD was engaged in this extreme behavior? Were you pleased with the results?

Given that the conduct was:
1. Unconstitutional; and
2. Ineffective,
don’t you think we should try a different policy?

Comment by Gooner Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 12:20 pm
–I believe BO is obsessed with race.–

Sigh.

Then, by your logic, I guess the Justice Department was pretty lazy, and didn’t get around to Obama’s race “obsession” in regards to Chicago until small-fry journalists (not the Big Dogs) went to court and forced the release of the McDonald video at Thanksgiving 2015.

After that, Attorney General Madigan requested the Justice Department probe.

Do you think there would have been a Justice Department look-see if Emanuel and Alvarez had been successful in keeping a lid on the video?

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 12:30 pm
“…issuing a new transparency policy mandating the release of videos and other materials related to certain officer misconduct investigations; beginning a pilot program for body-worn cameras, to be expanded CPD-wide…”

As long as cops can delete videos or turn off their body cams without criminal penalties, they will destroy evidence that makes them look bad, because they can.

The state legislature does not have to wait for the feds to act, all they have to do is amend the SB 1304 Body Cam bill to have criminal penalties for deleting vids.

Why wasn’t this done in the first place if Kwame Raoul is such a civil libertarian? I expect the small town reps to bow to the police unions, but it looks like there are some black good old boys in the legislature who don’t look out for their own constituents.

Comment by Payback Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 12:38 pm
-blue dog dem The problems of the CPD are long standing (see John Burge and others) and pre-date Obama’s presidency. The fact that the Justice Department finally got involved does not mean that Obama is “obsessed with race”. It simply means that the federal government is finally doing something. And if your critique is that “dems don’t care” then maybe you should actually be applauding Obama for finally raising these issues.

Comment by Pundent Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 12:46 pm
Not a very comprehensive investigation if they did not interview former Chief Gary Mc Carthy.

“They’ve already adopted the battle cry over and over again that we are disproportionately stopping African-Americans, and their conclusion is that we are biased and racially profiling,” he said of the DOJ. “They’re wrong.”

McCarthy pointed to statistics on officers’ street stops in 2013 and 2014 to highlight his position that policing during his tenure was based on crime data — and didn’t violate citizens’ rights.

The statistics, which he had previously presented during a speech to the City Club of Chicago in September, show the percentage of black and white people stopped over that period were almost identical to the percentage of black and white people suspected of crimes.

That was true, he said, both in high-crime districts like Englewood and lower-crime districts like Town Hall.

“We profiled crime, not people. We went to the places, locations and times when crime was most likely to happen,” McCarthy said.

“The standards that are being used by the Department of Justice are in conflict with what the Supreme Court has said, because ‘articulable, reasonable suspicion’ is not informed by demographic population data,” he said.

http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/on-eve-of-doj-report-mccarthy-criticizes-feds-views-on-policing/

Comment by Lucky Pierre Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 1:48 pm
–Not a very comprehensive investigation if they did not interview former Chief Gary Mc Carthy.–

You’re aware that simultaneous to this civil investigation there is a federal grand jury investigating a possible criminal police cover-up in the McDonald case?

Talk to McCarthy on the civil side, and you might get sideways of the criminal investigation.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 1:58 pm
You are aware that Attorney General Lynch said she could not reach Gary Mc Carthy right?

http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Former-Supt-Garry-McCarthy-Not-Included-in-DOJs-Report-on-Chicago-Police-410650955.html

I would bet the Trump Justice Department will have a much different interpretation than this report.

Comment by Lucky Pierre Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 2:07 pm
You’re aware that simultaneous to this civil investigation there is a federal grand jury investigating a possible criminal police cover-up in the McDonald case?

Where were the questions in the presser for that? Nowhere.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 2:11 pm
LP, I’m guessing that if McCarthy wishes to submit to any and all questioning by the FBI, they would accommodate him, his protests notwithstanding.

Why do you think the Trump Administration will see things differently?

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 2:15 pm
I predict the Trump administration will not have the same sympathy for the Black Lives matter movement, and it’s demand for programs like the ACLU has forced on the CPD, where the officers must fill out a two page report every time they stop someone to make sure they are not racial profiling anyone. Crime has skyrocketed since this was initiated and stops are down 80%

Comment by Lucky Pierre Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 2:24 pm
LP, try to follow your own posts. You wrote the Trump Administration see this Justice Department report “differently.” Why is that?

And since you speak for Gov. Rauner every day, do you think he will see this report “differently,” too?

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 2:29 pm
these investigations cost the gov’t entity a great deal of money, and most (not all) of the progress/changes are made up. 13% of Chicago is under siege with violence and yet no gov’t official from the feds down to the alderman is doing anything about it. 780 Murders. You’d be better off spending the money they want you too on a monitor/experts on hiring the kids in that 13% to paint, demo work, something. Your crime rate would drop and the DOJ could pretend like they had a role (which in my experience with them is all they are really after).
My guess, Trump assigns one guy to the civil rights department with instructions to answer the phone and take a message for the njext four years.

Comment by joke Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 2:31 pm
Wordslinger I watched the Sessions hearing this week and yes I think there will be a big difference in Civil Rights enforcement under a Trump administration.

I think the Congressional Black Caucus agrees and that is why they were protesting. I also think the award winning picture from Ferguson Missouri and Congressman Lacy Clay’s district depicting Police officers as pigs will be coming down from it’s display in the capital.

I think the administration’s approach to policing is closer to Mc Carthy’s view than Attorney General Lynch. do you disagree?

Comment by Lucky Pierre Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 2:40 pm
Senator Durbin also agrees the change in the Justice Department makes it less likely they will enforce these findings

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2017/01/13/durbin-questions-trump-administrations-commitment-to-cpd-reforms/

Comment by Lucky Pierre Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 2:57 pm
I think one thing to consider from the report is that perhaps if the city did not cheap out on training, EAP, and consideration for officer wellness, is not only would deaths have been avoided, but settlements would have been avoided as well. The amount of money spent on training, etc. would probably be less than what has been spent to settle cases, but no one seemed to consider that. The current city administration seems to have money for bread and circuses - e.g. the DePaul arena, 606 path, etc.- but not for the basics to make the city safe and liveable for all its residents.

Comment by West Side the Best Side Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 3:33 pm
Mahna @ 11:15 a.m.- “This report does nothing to change the minds and hearts of the rank and file of the Chicago Police Department…”

Why is it necessary to change the hearts and minds of city employees who are paid to do a job? If Chicago police don’t like their job, they can quit and the city can hire younger people with better attitudes.

“…who believe they are under attack by the media, politicians, and now the federal government.”

Once again, cops are the victims. Society made me what I am. Give me a break.

“The result has been, as the report notes, the largest single year increase in homicides in any of the five largest metropolitan areas in the United States over the past 25 years.”

Sounds like an admission of deliberate malfeasance and police failing to perform their jobs to reduce the crime rate.

“…I don’t think that whatever consent decree results from this investigation will be considered substantially complied with for a very long time.”

Sounds like a threat that the police bureaucracy will resist the directives of the U.S. government. This person is a cop or the wife of a cop.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 3:45 pm
It sounds like they think they sovled the problem. Now if you can just get the bad guys to cooperate your all good. It has become acceptable to disobey, resist and openly attack the police. This needs to change also or everything in that report is rendered mute.

Comment by Just Fred Friday, Jan 13, 17 @ 4:13 pm