The Chicago Police Department’s oversight agency concluded a three-year investigation into current department members who worked on disgraced Sergeant Ronald Watts’s tactical team that shook down residents for years at the former Ida B. Wells homes.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which investigates allegations of police misconduct, on Monday said the agency delivered its findings to CPD Supt. David Brown, who now has 30 days to decide whether to bring administrative charges against the members investigated in the report. The findings of COPA’s report were not made public.
In March 2017, Chicago’s Office of Inspector General began reviewing complaints of misconduct against former Watts tactical team members, before asking the Independent Police Review Authority to take over the investigation. COPA took over the roll of the IPRA in September that year.
During its investigation, COPA said it interviewed dozens of witnesses, former Wells Homes residents and former Cook County prosecutors for their report. COPA also reviewed thousands of pages of documentary evidence.
Watts was accused of shaking down residents of Ida B. Wells housing development on the South Side. In 2012, Watts pleaded guilty to federal charges after allegedly stealing $5,000 from an undercover informant.
