EDITORIAL
By Amir Shakur
CHICAGO (CHICAGO URBAN DAILY)—Chicago’s police accountability system isn’t just slow. According to the city’s own watchdog, it buried the truth.
A July report from the Chicago Office of Inspector General found that the Civilian Office of Police Accountability — the agency charged with investigating police misconduct — closed 654 complaints naming 1,041 officers without following proper investigative rules. The reason was a so-called “Timeliness Initiative” meant to clear a years-long backlog. The OIG’s verdict: COPA created a “vacuum of accountability.” Nearly 90 percent of those buried complaints alleged civil rights violations or excessive force. The average case had already sat for nearly three years.
Inside the department, it is no better. The Bureau of Internal Affairs took in more than 5,300 complaints last year — a record — while nearly a quarter of its positions sat empty. An audit found that of 834 disciplinary cases closed in 2024, fewer than half were finished within the required six months. As an assistant Illinois attorney general told a federal judge: delays mean officers face no consequences at all. Meanwhile the “accountability sergeants” the consent decree requires in every district keep getting pulled back to street duty.
And now the fight has moved to the Illinois Supreme Court, which heard arguments Thursday on whether officers facing serious discipline — including seven accused of using deadly force — can take their cases to private arbitration instead of public hearings. Attorney General Kwame Raoul is urging the court to keep the doors open, warning that secrecy would gut the consent decree. He is right.
Chicago doesn’t have an accountability system. It has a filing system. And every closed door makes it worse.
Stay tuned to Chicago Urban Daily as this story develops.
Reported by Chicago Urban Daily News. Visit chicagourbandailynews.com for updates.