Chicago Police

City hit with 2 more cop misconduct suits after sentences tossed

Apr 18, 2017 | WLSAM Staff

(CHICAGO) Two men filed lawsuits against the city on Monday after being released from prison in separate cases that unraveled when evidence surfaced indicating they had been framed by Chicago Police officers, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

Armando Serrano spent 23 years in prison for the 1993 murder of Rodrigo Vargas in Humboldt Park, a case that was investigated by Det. Reynaldo Guevara.

The other suit filed Monday was by Lionel White, whose 2006 drug conviction was vacated in December when attorneys showed he was arrested while disgraced former CPD Sgt. Ronald Watts was being investigated for corruption.

Serrano and co-defendant Jose Mantanez, who has not filed a lawsuit, were released last summer when a judge vacated their 55-year sentences after an Illinois Appellate Court ruling that Guevara had coerced the two main witnesses in the case to testify against them.

In another case handled by Guevara, Roberto Almodovar was released from prison last week after serving 23 years in prison for murder.

White claims Watts and a patrol officer broke into his girlfriend’s apartment without a warrant, beat him and planted heroin on him. White spent more than two years in prison before a judge tossed the conviction.

Watts, who supervised officers at the Ida B. Wells housing complex on the South Side, was sentenced to 22 months in federal prison in 2013 for ripping off a drug courier who was an FBI informant. Cook County state’s attorney Kim Foxx agreed in February to look into hundreds of convictions that relied on evidence from Watts and his underlings.

A spokesman for the city’s law department said he had not yet been served with the lawsuits, and declined to comment on Monday evening. Attorneys for Guevara and Watts could not immediately be reached for comment.

Serrano and White are seeking an unspecified amount in damages.

Off-duty cop barricades self as CPD boosts mental health support

Mar 16, 2017 | WLSAM Staff

Chicago Police block roads near the 6500 block of North Onarga, where a SWAT team responded to a barricade situation Tuesday night. | Network Video Productions

(CHICAGO) An off-duty Chicago Police officer was arrested after a 12-hour standoff in the Edison Park neighborhood Wednesday morning, less than 24 hours after Chicago Police leadership announced plans to bolster support for the mental health status of officers.

Police were called to the 6500 block of North Onarga at 11:37 p.m. Tuesday for a “distraught male” in a vehicle, police said. He was taken into custody about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday and taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation. No one was injured.

Sources told the Chicago Sun-Times that the man is an off-duty Chicago Police officer who has been with the department for 14 years. His father was a police officer for 34 years.

Twelve misconduct complaints have been brought against the officer since 2013, with one for “operation/personnel violations,” according to data made public by the Invisible Institute.

Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi declined to confirm that the man is a Chicago Police officer, saying the man’s employment was not a factor in the incident.

At a news conference at department headquarters on Tuesday, Supt. Eddie Johnson, the department’s command staff and Police Board President Lori Lightfoot discussed reforms the department would be making by the end of 2017.

Included in the 26-page outline, in the section dedicated to accountability and transparency, the department said it plans to “work to develop a system to improve communications regarding officer support to provide sufficient resources to meet officers’ wellness needs.”

The department said it plans to continue working with the University of Chicago Crime Lab and other experts in the field “to identify officer risk factors and a process to identify officers who may need additional training or support.”

After reviewing the services already available to officers, the department said it will develop a plan for “enhancing officer support, including a resource proposal to provide adequate support,” the department said.

The plan will focus on enhancing the Employee Assistance Program; any necessary revisions to the EAP’s mental and physical health providers; reaching out to officers to better inform them of available services; integrating officer wellness principles into training; and “minimizing misconceptions” about EAP’s use while encouraging it.

According to the police department’s directives manual, the EAP “is staffed by sworn and civilian counselors and requires the voluntary involvement of department members or their families who are seeking counseling.”

Department representatives did not respond when asked if the barricade situation would accelerate those plans for implementation.

The department announced Tuesday that, by the end of 2017, it would be working toward reforming five aspects of policing, including manpower and supervision; a further investment in community policing; better officer training; revised guidance on use-of-force; and more transparency and accountability.

Charges filed in shooting death of 11-year-old Takiya Holmes

Feb 15, 2017 | WLSAM Staff

(CHICAGO) A 19-year-old man has been charged in the shooting death of 11-year-old Takiya Holmes, police said Wednesday.

Antwan C. Jones is facing first-degree murder charges in Takiya’s shooting, Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Takiya died Tuesday morning at Comer Children’s Hospital. She was sitting next to her 3-year-old brother in the back seat of a van — her mother and aunt were in the front seats — when gunfire erupted about 7:40 p.m. Saturday in the 6500 block of South King Drive in the Parkway Gardens neighborhood.

Williams was parked outside a dry cleaning store, where she worked, and planned to exchange cars with a co-worker when someone fired shots, her grandmother, Patsy Holmes said Sunday.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Patsy Holmes said then. “This has got to stop. These babies are dying, and for what?”

Top cop asks IG to look at fiancée’s actions after traffic stop

Feb 1, 2017 | WLSAM Staff

(CHICAGO) Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson is asking the city’s inspector general to look into allegations Johnson’s fiancée, a Chicago Police lieutenant, might have intervened to help her son following a traffic stop, a spokesman for the department said Tuesday.

In an emailed statement, spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the department became aware of the incident Tuesday morning and that an internal investigation has been opened into the “handling of the traffic offense” involving the son of Lt. Nakia Fenner, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

“Supt. Johnson is committed to the highest levels of integrity and professional standards for every member of the Chicago Police Department,” Guglielmi said. “He has asked Internal Affairs that this case be turned over to the Chicago Inspector General for an independent investigation into the facts to avoid any perception of impropriety.”

Rachel Leven, a spokeswoman for Inspector General Joseph Ferguson, said: “Our Office will review any information CPD provides in accordance with our procedures when we receive any complaint or referral.”

Asked Tuesday night if, prior to Tuesday, Johnson had mentioned his plans to go to the Inspector General’s Office, Fenner said: “I don’t have any comment regarding that story.”

It’s not the first time Fenner has been the subject of one of the inspector general’s investigations.

In its scathing report on Chicago’s police force, the U.S. Justice Department lifted the veil on another Ferguson investigation involving Fenner — this one into allegations of cheating prior to the August, 2015 lieutenants exam.

“The city’s inspector general is . . . currently investigating allegations that three recently-promoted lieutenants were coached by a high-ranking official who helped develop the August 2015 lieutenant’s exam,” the report states in a section devoted exclusively to CPD’s much-criticized promotion process.

“Although the investigation is ongoing, allegations of improper exam procedures make CPD officers doubt the fairness of the exam process. . . . In addition to litigation concerning the tests’ discriminatory impact, promotional exams also have been tainted with allegations of cheating and cronyism in the exam’s preparations or administration.”

Fenner was not mentioned by name in the DOJ report, but sources said the “ongoing investigation” is a reference to allegations that Eugene Williams, a former finalist for police superintendent, improperly coached Fenner and two other women, including the wife of former First Deputy Police Superintendent Al Wysinger, prior to the lieutenants’ exam.

Williams was in a unique position to assist the women, since he had helped develop the exam. He has repeatedly refused to discuss the coaching allegations, and has since retired.

All three women, including Johnson’s fiancée, were promoted after scoring well on the test. Ferguson’s office has declined to comment on that case.

Johnson’s request to Ferguson’s office comes in the wake of a health scare last week. On Friday, the 56-year-old superintendent grew lightheaded and wobbly during a press conference at a South Side police station, leading him to disclose he has high blood pressure and is on the waiting list for kidney transplant.

Report ties top cop Eddie Johnson to LaQuan McDonald shooting aftermath

Dec 23, 2016 | WLS-AM Staff

By John Dempsey, WLS-AM News

(CHICAGO) New problems for Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson. The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Johnson, who was a police Deputy Superintendent when white officer Jason VanDyke shot and killed black teenager LaQuan McDonald in October of 2014, was among a group of top police officials who saw the dashcam video of the shooting just days after it occurred.

The Tribune cites documents it obtained of the city’s Office of Inspector General, which quoted a police Lieutenant who was at the viewing of the video. The report says Lt. Osvaldo Valdez told

Inspector General’s investigators that “There was never no question whether the shooting was justified. Everyone agreed that Officer Van Dyke used the force necessary to eliminate the threat, and that’s pretty much it.”

Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi acknowledged that Johnson was at the meeting but told the Tribune the superintendent “strongly disagrees” with Valdez’s characterization of the briefing. Guglielmi declined to elaborate and Johnson referred questions to the spokesman.

The McDonald shooting video shows VanDyke pumping 16 shots into the teenager’s body even though McDonald, who was armed with a knife, was walking away from him at the time.

The Inspector General has recommended that Johnson fire several officers who lied about the circumstances of the shooting that night. The Chicago Sun Times reports that

Johnson has moved to fire only five of the 15 officers recommended for discipline for allegedly covering up or bungling the investigation into the McDonald shooting, but Johnson is still weighing discipline against four of those cops. Van Dyke is currently facing murder charges in connection with the incident.

Police release photos of Lincoln Park burglary suspects

Nov 23, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

Surveillance image of two men suspected in a Lincoln Park burglary. | Chicago Police

(CHICAGO) Chicago Police are searching for two men suspected of breaking into the garage of a 46-year-old woman’s Lincoln Park neighborhood home on Monday afternoon.The burglary happened about 1 p.m. in the 1800 block of North Mohawk, according to a community alert issued by 18th District police.

Surveillance images showed two men, each about 5-foot-10 and 30 years old, leaving the scene in a black two-door Nissan, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Area Central detectives at (312) 747-8382.

Surveillance image of a car used in a Lincoln Park burglary. | Chicago Police

Supt.: No clear violations of CPD policy in Beal shooting so far

Nov 8, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

(CHICAGO) Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson on Monday watched cellphone video of the Southwest Side traffic standoff that sparked a fatal police-involved shooting, but he didn’t see clear violations of department policy.

“CPD did review pieces of video today, looking for training and tactics,” police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told the Chicago Sun-Times. “What was reviewed today was inconclusive to determine whether there were any training violations, and we are looking forward to [the Independent Police Review Authority’s] review.”

That’s in contrast to the fatal police-involved shooting of a man driving a stolen car in July on the South Side, in which Johnson quickly announced that he saw potential violations of department policy.

About 3 p.m. Saturday, an off-duty police officer and a uniformed police sergeant fired at Joshua Beal, 25, who was pointing his gun into a crowd during a traffic altercation involving a funeral procession in the 3100 block of West 111th in the Mount Greenwood neighborhood, authorities said.

It’s unclear whether one or both of the officers’ shots struck Beal. Police are testing Beal’s weapon — a 9mm handgun with a laser sight — to see if he fired it, Guglielmi said.

The incident began when an off-duty Chicago firefighter argued with motorists in a funeral procession who were blocking a fire lane near a Chicago firehouse, police say.

An off-duty Chicago cop in a barbershop saw the fight. He went into the street and identified himself as an officer. And a Chicago Police sergeant driving to the Morgan Park police station also stopped and got out of his vehicle. The sergeant saw Beal with a gun in his hand and the sergeant opened fire — as did the off-duty cop.

Beal’s family and demonstrators with the Black Lives Matter movement have questioned the police department’s account.

Guglielmi noted that the off-duty officer and the sergeant have been placed on desk duty for 30 days — which is routine — to let supervisors monitor them and provide them with training, if necessary.

But unlike another fatal police-involved shooting in July, the officer and sergeant have not been stripped of their police powers.

In July, three officers were stripped of their powers within 48 hours of firing their weapons at Paul O’Neal, an 18-year-old driving a stolen Jaguar. At the time, Johnson said the officers appeared to violate department policy in the fatal shooting of O’Neal, as body cameras and dashboard cameras captured officers firing at the Jaguar.

There is no such video of Beal’s shooting — only cellphone camera video for now.

On Saturday, Beal was in a car in a funeral procession for his cousin, Marcus Washington, 26, who was shot to death late last month in Indianapolis. Beal was a pallbearer at Washington’s burial at Mount Hope Cemetery.

Beal’s family said he had earned an associate’s degree at Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana and had two young children with his fiancée. His family said he was not associated with gangs, although police were on alert for possible gang activity in connection with Washington’s funeral, according to law-enforcement sources.

Still, Beal did have some serious scrapes with the law, including a 2009 road-rage incident in Indianapolis in which he pulled a handgun from his waistband and hit a 20-year-old man in the head following a traffic accident, according to a police report. Beal pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor battery charge and was placed on probation, court records show.

On Tuesday, Beal’s brother, Michael Beal, 28, is scheduled to appear in Cook County criminal court for a bond hearing on a charge of aggravated battery to a police officer. On Saturday, during the Mount Greenwood traffic altercation, he allegedly put the off-duty officer in a chokehold, officials say.

The off-duty firefighter who initially confronted the motorists in the funeral procession later performed CPR on Joshua Beal after he was shot, according to Larry Langford, a spokesman for the Chicago Fire Department. The firefighter isn’t assigned to the firehouse on the block where the melee occurred, Langford said.

On Monday, Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th) bemoaned the racial tension triggered by Beal’s death, but defended the actions of the officers who fired the shots.

“When you point a gun in this type of situation — a gun that legally that man should not have been carrying in this state — unfortunately the Chicago Police Department had to use deadly force,” said O’Shea, whose far Southwest Side ward is home to scores of police officers and firefighters.

“There were lives in danger. Police ordered the individual to put the weapon down. He clearly had a weapon,” he said. “He was pointing it into the crowd and was ordered by police numerous times to put it down. He did not. Unfortunately, in that type of situation, you have to make a decision. And they decided to use deadly force.”

As for demonstrations in Mount Greenwood on Sunday prompted by Beal’s shooting, O’Shea said he wants “to make sure we keep the peace and cooler heads prevail.”

Black Lives and Blue Lives matter protesters faced off, trading incendiary language.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel added, “There is no place in the city of Chicago for racially, culturally or ethnically tinged language. It is totally unacceptable. You can have a protest. . . . But do it in a way that respects our differences rather than drives a wedge between us.”

CPD makes plans to keep peace in Wrigleyville during World Series

Oct 26, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

(CHICAGO) As the World Series gets underway, the Chicago Police Department issued an order Tuesday calling on all sworn members to be ready to respond to the area around Wrigleyville in the event of large, unruly crowds, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

According to a memo sent by First Deputy Supt. Kevin Navarro obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times, “All units of the Department will be in regulation field uniform and be prepared for deployment with soft body armor, helmet, baton and rain gear.”

The order will go into effect from Friday, Oct. 28, the date of the first World Series game at Wrigley Field in 71 years, until Wednesday, Nov. 2, the date of a potential Game 7. The order calls for officers to be prepared on Oct. 31, even though no game is scheduled that day.

The Cubs host the Cleveland Indians at Wrigley Field on Oct. 28, Oct. 29 and, if needed, Oct. 30.

Time off, aside from personal days and previously approved furlough days, will not be granted to any member of the department, according to the memo.

“All units of the department will anticipate days off cancelled,” it read.

Officers are also told to “anticipate working a twelve (12) hour tour of duty.”

Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said police activity over the next week was part of “customary measures” for any large-scale event.

“Essentially, all officers will be working to not only ensure safety around the World Series but also patrolling neighborhoods and parks,” Guglielmi said in an email Tuesday night.

About 300,000 Cubs fans took to the streets outside Wrigley Field from Saturday night into Sunday to celebrate the team’s first National League Championship since 1945, city officials estimated.

Six people were arrested on misdemeanor charges of unlawful ticket sales, traffic obstruction, storage of goods on the public way, disorderly conduct, reckless conduct and resisting arrest, according to police. Nine people were taken to hospitals.

— Chicago Sun-Times

2 found dead in suspected murder-suicide in Ukrainian Village

Oct 26, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

(CHICAGO) Detectives have opened a homicide investigation after two people were found dead in a Ukrainian Village home following a five-hour barricade situation Tuesday, police said.

Officers responded about 5 p.m. to a call of a domestic-related shooting in a building in the 800 block of North Wolcott, according to Chicago Police. Someone refused to come out of the apartment, and the police SWAT team was called to the scene.

SWAT team members made entry into the home about 10 p.m. and found a woman and man both dead inside, police said. The Cook County medical examiner’s office did not immediately confirm the fatalities.

A police source said the deaths may have resulted from a murder-suicide, but additional information was not available. Area Central detectives are conducting a homicide investigation.

Federal trial over Endia Martin killing begins this week

Oct 24, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

(CHICAGO) Vandetta Redwood found herself alone in a Chicago police lockup in April 2014, the day a teenage feud ended with a street brawl — and the fatal shooting of 14-year-old Endia Martin.

Redwood, then 32, had been in the middle of the melee in the Back of the Yards that day. As her 12-year-old daughter stood by, the feds say Redwood handed a .38 special caliber revolver to her 14-year-old cousin and gave her a simple instruction: “Shoot that bitch.”

Authorities say the 14-year-old girl obeyed, wounding one teenage girl and killing Martin, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

Later, alone in the lockup, Redwood allegedly told herself, “I’m not going to no motherf – – – – – – jail.” And for nearly two years, she kept that promise to herself. She escaped criminal charges over Martin’s death. But that changed in February, when a federal grand jury indicted Redwood for putting the murder weapon in the hands of a child, and for carrying it within 1,000 feet of a school.

Now, Redwood faces as many as 15 years in prison if convicted at a trial starting Monday at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse. When she learned last winter how long she could wind up behind bars, Redwood broke down in court.

“They f – – – – – – lied on me,” Redwood declared as she was dragged from the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve in February. “I swear to God. I didn’t do this. I didn’t do this. They f – – – – – – lied on me. They lied on me. I didn’t do this. I didn’t do this. They lied on me. They lied on me.”

The charges against Redwood landed days after her other cousin, Donnell Flora, was convicted by a Cook County jury for Martin’s first-degree murder and the attempted murder of Lanekia Reynolds, the other wounded teen. Flora was accused of first handing the gun to the alleged shooter. The feds say the teen then handed it to Redwood before taking it back.

Redwood took the stand during Flora’s trial and invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to testify. Her attorney has since accused the feds of trying to punish Redwood for that decision. Meanwhile, Flora has been sentenced to 100 years in prison.

The alleged shooter, who is not being named because she was charged as a juvenile, is still awaiting trial. Prosecutors did not include her on a publicly filed witness list. Others are instead expected to take the stand and testify that they saw Redwood hand the teen a “shiny” or “silver” object.

Meanwhile, a cellphone video of the shooting will likely serve as the centerpiece of the prosecutors’ case. Cook County prosecutors tried to use the same video in 2014 to charge Redwood with mob action and obstruction of justice. But Cook County Judge Donald Panarese Jr. tossed those charges after he viewed the video, calling it “choppy” and “poor.”

The feds are expected to play the video in court this week — which could lead to its public release.

Federal prosecutors acknowledge that video of the April 28, 2014, murder does not show Redwood handing the gun to the alleged shooter. Instead, they say it shows Reynolds descending a porch in the 900 block of West Garfield swinging a lock on a chain. Redwood can be seen crossing the screen toward her young cousin, prosecutors said, and later the teen can be seen raising a silver gun and firing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Nasser said people in the crowd told the alleged shooter to put her gun away and fight fair — without weapons. So Redwood allegedly bumped chests with her young cousin and took the gun. Then, after Reynolds began swinging the lock, Nasser said Redwood handed the Smith & Wesson back to the girl and told her to “shoot that bitch.”

The violence erupted after a feud over a boy between Reynolds and her rival escalated on Facebook. It snowballed into threats, and the two eventually challenged each other to a fight.

Donnell Flora | Cook County sheriff’s office

Retired detective turns in nephew for downtown bank robbery

Oct 23, 2016 | WLS-AM Staff

CHICAGO (AP) — A retired Chicago police detective has turned in his nephew to the FBI for allegedly robbing a downtown bank.

The FBI says Ramses Longstreet is accused of robbing an Associated Bank branch Wednesday. The suspect left behind a cellphone when he fled the bank. After getting descriptions of the robber from witnesses, the FBI released photos of Longstreet.

The federal court filing by the FBI indicates the 42-year-old Longstreet went to the uncle’s home and asked him to hold on to the cash. It was shortly afterward that the uncle was told by Longstreet’s mother she believed her son may have robbed a bank.

On Thursday, the uncle picked up Longstreet on a pretense and took him and the cash to the FBI.

It wasn’t immediately known if Longstreet, who ordered held Thursday, has legal representation.

Detainee’s death an example of ‘unjust’ bond system

Oct 18, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

(CHICAGO) A Far South Side man who had been held at the Cook County Jail for four months since being arrested for theft at an Avondale neighborhood Jewel-Osco died in custody Monday morning, in what the sheriff’s office called an example of an “unjust” bond system.

Ryan Hanley, 34, was accused of stealing merchandise valued at less than $300 on June 9 from the store at 3572 N. Elston Ave., according to Cook County Circuit Court records and Chicago Police. Judge Peggy Chiampas set bond at $50,000 for the felony theft charge, records show.

Hanley had been diagnosed with a terminal illness, according to Cara Smith, chief policy officer for the Cook County sheriff’s office. He died at Stroger Hospital at 8:03 a.m. Monday, according to the medical examiner’s office.

“Unfortunately, Mr. Hanley’s death is another shameful reminder of how disgracefully unjust our bond system is,” Smith said in an email Monday night. “He was charged with theft and his bond set at $50,000, despite being terminally ill. We will continue to advocate as strenuously as we can for those impacted by this unjust system.”

Records show a lengthy rap sheet for Hanley, whose most recent home address was listed in the 10500 block of South Spaulding. In addition to several misdemeanor shoplifting and trespassing convictions since 2000, he pleaded guilty to burglary in 2002 and armed robbery in 2005 — both in Chicago — as well as a 2012 felony theft charge in Tinley Park.

An autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday.

Chicago police shoot, wound robbery suspect at gas station

Oct 17, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

(CHICAGO) Chicago police officers have shot and wounded an armed robbery suspect at a gas station.

Police say officers were about a block away and responded Sunday night to a call about an armed robbery at the station in the West Humboldt Park and arrived to find the robbery in progress.

Police say in a statement they were confronted by the armed suspect and officers fired, shooting him in the leg. He was taken to a hospital for treatment, where he was last reported in serious but stable condition. No officers were injured and police say a gun was recovered.

The shooting is under investigation and the department says officers involved will be on routine administrative duties for 30 days.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Suit: CPD officer faced retaliation for reporting misconduct

Oct 13, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

(CHICAGO) A Chicago Police officer claims he faced retaliation in the department after reporting other officers’ misconduct.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court, Officer Jaeho Jung says he went to a sergeant in early 2015 about an officer who made false police reports, and another who refused to fire her weapon “when required to do so, in order to protect fellow officers.”

The sergeant told the 10-year veteran that by reporting the misconduct, he now had a “brick” over him, implying Jung was “tarnished in the eyes of superior officers” and that it made him “a target for retaliation,” the suit alleges.

As a result, Jung claims, he was removed from a police tactical team, and his paid time off was cut short. He also claims colleagues used racial slurs against him.

The suit was filed against the City of Chicago and also names two officers, three sergeants and a lieutenant as defendants. A city law department spokesman said the suit had not yet been served and declined to comment Wednesday night.

The two-count whistleblower suit seeks an unspecified amount in damages.

Three CPD officers injured during West Side arrest

Oct 5, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

(CHICAGO) Three Chicago Police officers were injured, one seriously, while making an arrest after a crash Wednesday morning in the West Side Austin neighborhood.

The 15th District officers were on patrol and saw a crash near Cicero and Roosevelt about 10 a.m., according to Chicago Police.

The officers tried to help the crash victims, but a male became combative and struck one of the officers, police said. Two other officers were injured while taking him into custody.

The male was taken to Loretto Hospital, where his condition was stabilized, police said, though they did not specify the nature of his injuries.

Three officers were taken to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, police said. One officer was in serious condition, and the other two were in good condition.

CPD releases sketches of severed head found in park lagoon

Sep 29, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

Chicago police released sketches of a person whose head was found in a bag in the McKinley Park lagoon last week. | Chicago Police photos

(CHICAGO) On Wednesday, Chicago Police released sketches of a person whose severed head was found inside a bag last week in the McKinley Park lagoon in hope of finding out who they were.

The human remains were found about 10 a.m. Sept. 23 at the park at 2210 W. Pershing, according to Chicago Police.

A Chicago Park District worker found the bag during a routine clean-up, a source said.

The remains of the person found were described as black, between 15 and 25 years old, police said. Investigators are unsure if they were male or female.

Anyone with information on the person’s identity is asked to call police at (312) 747-8730.

970 new Chicago Police officers will need 600 new squad cars

Sep 29, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

(CHICAGO) Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to borrow $25 million to pay for new squad cars for the 970 new officers he plans to hire in the next two years, but how he will pay for the additional cops remains under wraps, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

On Thursday, Emanuel’s office will seek approval from the City Council Finance Committee to tack the vehicle-related borrowing onto an existing series of general obligation bonds, Budget Office spokeswoman Molly Poppe said.

As for the estimated $134 million it will cost to put nearly 1,000 new cops on the CPD payroll, Poppe said Emanuel will spell out the funding sources when he introduces his 2017 budget proposal next month.

The $25 million price tag will cover more than 600 vehicles, to be purchased over two years, Poppe said. The all-wheel drive Interceptor SUV will be built at Chicago’s Ford Assembly Plant on South Torrence Avenue. The CPD fleet is mostly comprised of Ford sedans and SUVs, but department officials have not yet determined the mix of models needed, Poppe said.

Last week, Emanuel announced the police hiring surge as a key component of his strategy to reduce crime and calm tensions between the CPD and citizens, but he did not say where the cash-strapped city would find the money for the officers.

Emanuel’s plan also called for spending $36 million on mentoring programs intended to steer middle- and high school-age children away from gangs, listing the city and several corporate sponsors as funding sources.

This year Emanuel has pushed through tax increases totaling $838 million for police, fire and teacher pensions, in addition to a new fee for trash collection and a 29.5 percent bump to water and sewer bills. However, the new police hires could eventually allow the department to reduce the $116 million spent on police overtime in 2015.

-Chicago Sun-Times

US Atty: Chicago Gangs Emboldened

Sep 26, 2016 | WLS-AM Staff

By Bill Cameron, WLS-AM News

At the City Club Monday afternoon, U.S. Attorney Zach Fardon was conceding there has been a downside to the recent moves in favor of more police accountability.

Fardon is acknowledging that putting the police under a microscope is having two negative impacts on enforcing the law.

“I believe there was a hit on CPD morale and a drag on officer willingness to conduct stops,” Fardon said. “There has in fact been a major drop this year in the number of street stops officers are conducting. I also think the fallout on public confidence has created a sense of emboldenment [sic] among gangs especially in our most violent-afflicted neighborhoods. Some gang members, apparently, have felt they could get away with more and so more bullets started flying.”

He also said the pattern and practice civil rights investigation of the Chicago police department is moving forward at “a record pace” but he made no predictions on when a report may be coming.

@ 2016 WLS-AM

Theresa Mintle: Rahm has not ‘lost his power’ in City Hall

Sep 26, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

Former chief of staff to Mayor Rahm Emanuel Theresa Mintle told John Howell and Ray Stevens on WLS that he’ll have no problem attaining the over $170 million needed to fund his plan to hire 970 more officers for the Chicago Police Department.

When asked if Emanuel has lost some of his power and influence over City Hall, Mintle said absolutely ‘not.’

Emanuel’s budget is expected to be announced in the next few weeks.

CPD announces next 7 districts to receive body cameras

Sep 26, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

(CHICAGO) Chicago Police announced Sunday that the next seven police districts to be outfitted with body cameras for officers will be the Englewood, Harrison, Chicago Lawn, Grand Crossing, Grand Central, Central and Near North districts.

Infrastructure improvements to accommodate the cameras will begin this fall in the districts, which cover much of the West and South sides where violence in the city typically is concentrated.

Police Supt. Eddie Johnson announced last week that all 22 police districts will be equipped with cameras for every officer on every shift, with the number of cameras rising from 2,000 now to about 7,000 by 2018. The expansion is expected to cost $8 million through city funding and grants.

The pilot program began in January 2015 in the Shakespeare District on the Northwest Side. This year, the department expanded the program to the Austin, Wentworth, Deering, Ogden, South Chicago and Gresham districts.

“Body cameras have proven to be a valuable tool in promoting departmental accountability and trust, while providing a firsthand look into the dangerous situations Chicago police officers face every day to protect our communities,” Johnson said in a statement.

But a police-involved shooting in the South Chicago district has raised concerns about whether cops are purposely turning off their cameras. Paul O’Neal, 18, was fatally shot on July 28 after he hit two police SUVs in a stolen Jaguar. Johnson stripped three officers of their police powers for allegedly violating police policy.

The camera of the officer who fired the fatal shot apparently wasn’t recording when he fired. But after the shooting, his camera captured him saying he didn’t know O’Neal was armed. Later, a supervisor cautioned officers to “make sure these are all off now,” apparently talking about their cameras.

© Copyright 2016 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

Arraignment scheduled for indicted Chicago police officer

Sep 22, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

(CHICAGO) A Chicago police officer recorded firing shots that injured two black teenagers is scheduled to be arraigned on federal civil rights charges.

Marco Proano is due in U.S. District Court on Thursday to enter a plea.

The 41-year-old was indicted last week on two counts of deprivation of rights. He is accused of using unreasonable force while on duty in 2013. Each count carries a maximum 10-year prison term.

The shooting was captured on a dashboard camera. It shows the officer firing his handgun multiple times into a car occupied by the two teenagers, who posed no apparent threat. The car had been pulled over for speeding.

The indictment and release of the video follow scrutiny of Chicago police since last November’s video release showing a white officer fatally shooting a black teenager 16 times.

Retired Chicago deputy chief shot during robbery attempt

Sep 15, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

(CHICAGO) A retired Chicago deputy police chief was wounded when he was targeted by an alleged robber as he was walking near his home.

Former Deputy Chief Fred Coffey returned fire early Wednesday, wounding the suspect.

The 72-year-old Coffey was wounded in the arm. Police say the robber, 21, suffered a wound in the lower body. Both were stabilized at hospitals, but police were releasing few other details.

The shooting occurred in a park, near an exercise session for senior citizens.

The suspect, who wasn’t immediately identified, was arrested shortly after the shooting.

Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said in a statement that gun offenders “do not discriminate.” He added gun offenders’ reckless conduct and lack of respect puts families, public servants and anything that stands in their way at risk.”

2 injured in ISP-involved shooting on South Side

Aug 26, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

By Adam Chappelle, WLS-AM 890 News

(CHICAGO) Two people were injured after Illinois State Police troopers fired at an armed man in a cab late Thursday night. ISP officials said troopers were conducting a routine traffic stop in the West Chatham neighborhood around 8:30pm. While conducting that stop, the troopers were flagged down by a taxi near 77th and Vincennes.

When troopers approached the car, they found an armed man in the backseat, and shots rang out. Witnesses told ABC-7 police were trying to physically pull one person out of that cab.

One person was transported to Stroger Hospital in serious to critical condition, the other to St. Bernard Hospital in fair to serious condition. One trooper was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, but fire officials said that trooper was not shot, and it was unknown why he was taken from the scene.

CPD violating due process of seven cops facing firing, FOP says

Aug 23, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

(CHICAGO) Fraternal Order of Police President Dean Angelo on Monday accused the Chicago Police Department of violating the due process of seven officers who stand to lose their jobs for allegedly covering up the police shooting of Laquan McDonald.

In his long-awaited response to a scathing report by Inspector General Joe Ferguson, Police Supt. Eddie Johnson has moved to fire the seven officers for allegedly violating Rule 14, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

That’s the “If you lie, you die” rule that prohibits officers from filing false reports or lying under oath during the course of an investigation.

Angelo complained that none of the seven officers have been told how they lied. That, he said, is a violation of due process.

“They committed a Rule 14 violation based on what? What specifically did they do? What did they say? What did they write that puts them in that category? I don’t know. They don’t know,” Angelo said.

“No one is being served with specifics of what they did wrong. No one told them, `You said this and you should have said that.’ Is that fair? Is that what we’re looking at now? Everybody is concerned about `transparency.’ That’s the new word of the day. Where’s the transparency of this?”

Anthony Guglielmi, chief spokesman for the Chicago Police Department, said that under the city’s contract with the officers, the department will provide them with a breakdown of their potential rule violations once administrative charges for separation are formally brought before the Chicago Police Board, which determines punishment for cops.

“Last week, the Bureau of Internal Affairs met with each of the Chicago Police officers to notify them they were being relieved of their police powers for possible rule violations following the Inspector General’s investigation into the Laquan McDonald case,” Guglielmi said.

“The Chicago Police Department is committed to the highest levels of transparency and works very hard to balance the release of information with the integrity of investigations and the public’s right to know,” he said.

Dean Angelo, president of the Fraternal Order of Police. | Sun-Times file photo

Angelo said the FOP will represent all seven officers before the police board. He said their defense is being hampered by the union’s inability to get its hands on the inspector general’s report.

“From what I understand, the report is 15,000 pages long. Everyone is concerned about transparency, but no one else has eyes on that report,” Angelo said.

“It’s very frustrating when we have no specifics. Everyone is reaching [and saying], ‘They don’t comply with the video.’ But there’s something called `due process.’ It’s hard to go through allegations when we don’t know the specifics. We have got everybody represented at this stage. We will be going forward and representing them once we know what we’re representing them for.”

The Chicago Sun-Times reported last week that Ferguson recommended that 10 officers be fired for giving accounts of the McDonald shooting that did not jibe with a dashcam video that shows white police officer Jason Van Dyke unloading 16 rounds while the black teenager was walking away from police with a knife in his hand.

Chicago Police Department Deputy Chief David McNaughton resigned last week.| Sun-Times file photo

Three days later, Johnson followed Ferguson’s recommendation by moving to fire seven of the officers, including Van Dyke’s partner Joseph Walsh.

Two others, including Deputy Chief David McNaughton, resigned last week.

Johnson “respectfully disagreed” with Ferguson’s recommendation on the tenth officer, arguing there was “insufficient evidence to prove” a Rule 14 violation.

Sources identified the police officer spared the ax as a woman. Several female officers were mentioned in the police reports issued by the city earlier this year.

McNaughton was the incident commander in charge of the shooting scene on Oct. 20, 2014, the night when McDonald was killed.

He found that Van Dyke’s use of force was proper. McNaughton had written that McDonald was approaching Van Dyke when he was shot and the officer was in fear for his life.

Police Supt. Eddie Johnson has moved to fire seven police officers in connection with the Laquan McDonald shooting. | Ashlee Rezin / Sun-Times

Van Dyke’s partner, Walsh, said McDonald continued to advance on them, ignoring commands to drop a knife in his hand. He swung the knife at the officers in an “aggressive manner” when he was 12 to 15 feet away, Walsh told investigators.

But a video from a police vehicle showed that the knife-wielding McDonald was walking away from the officers — parallel to them — when he was shot by Van Dyke.

Van Dyke was charged with murder on Nov. 24, 2015, the same day the city released the video to the public. The charges stemmed from a separate investigation by the Cook County state’s attorney and FBI.

The recommended firings of the seven officers do not end the inspector general’s investigation, sources have told the Sun-Times. Ferguson will now turn to what then-Supt. Garry McCarthy and his executive staff knew about the discrepancies between the video and police officers’ accounts, and what they did about it.

Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke is charged with murder in the death of Laquan McDonald. | Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune/Pool photo

Although Van Dyke was immediately stripped of his police powers and placed on desk duty after McCarthy viewed the video, the inspector general will look into why other officers — including the ones who Johnson recommends firing — were not also placed on desk duty pending an investigation of their actions.

In December, Mayor Rahm Emanuel apologized for the “systematic breakdown” that culminated in the “totally avoidable” police shooting death of McDonald and acknowledged the “code of silence” in the Chicago Police Department he once tried to keep out of a court record.

Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th), chairman of the City Council’s Black Caucus, has argued that the alleged cover-up of the Laquan McDonald shooting is the latest and most egregious example of that code of silence.

Sawyer said last week he will not be satisfied until police brass who saw the dashcam video on Oct. 21, 2014, the day after Laquan McDonald was killed, also are held accountable.

On Monday, Emanuel was asked whether he agrees with Sawyer.

“I’m going to be cautious [about] the mayor speaking up about what other investigations should be done. They’ll be done on the merits and whether they’re worthy,” Emanuel said at an unrelated news conference to tout the early installation of air-conditioners in Chicago Public Schools.

“I think the superintendent took the right actions. [I] gave him the latitude to take the right actions that he thinks was appropriate and he made clear that the ultimate goal here is to restore trust in the police department and to also restore trust with the community, because that’s ultimately how we get public safety.”

-Chicago Sun-Times

John and Ray In 60

Aug 8, 2016 | WLSAM Staff

Chicago Police released the shooting video of Paul O’Neal on Friday. The release led to a series of protests over the weekend.

Over the weekend a French gymnast at the Rio Olympics landed awkwardly and broke his leg on live TV.

Plus, a Chicago businessman has already figured out a way to make money from the Pokemon Go craze, although some people have been hit with fines for not leaving parks at night.

Tag Archives: Chicago Police