Too many investigations into police misconduct are dropped because the accusers haven’t sworn out and signed an affidavit, Chicago’s inspector general says, echoing findings by the U.S. Justice Department.
Two-thirds of police misconduct cases were closed for lack of these sworn statements, according to a new report from City Hall Inspector General Joe Ferguson.
In 2004, the Illinois legislature required affidavits in police misconduct cases to prevent false allegations against cops. But even when an accuser hasn’t filed an affidavit, the city’s contract with the Fraternal Order of Police allows investigators to keep the case open when there’s credible evidence of misconduct — which can include body-worn camera video, witness statements and 911 call audio.
The inspector general’s office reviewed about 180 cases and found that one-quarter of them were improperly closed for lacking an affidavit when other evidence might have supported an “override.”
Examples the report cited included a cop accused of injuring his girlfriend’s finger during a quarrel. The case was closed when she didn’t file an affidavit, though evidence included police photos of her injured hand and the 911 call she made.
Investigations closed for lacking an affidavit represented about 62% of the nearly 3,700 police misconduct cases closed in 2017 and 2018.
Ferguson’s report also said too many misconduct cases are dropped when the accuser sues the city. That puts the city in a poor position to defend a lawsuit because the allegations against the officer haven’t been fully vetted, he said.
In a response to the report, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which investigates misconduct complaints against cops, said it already has trained employees to use overrides of the affidavit requirement when the evidence calls for it.
Deborah Witzburg, the deputy inspector general for public safety, gave a presentation on the OIG’s findings to the Chicago Police Board during its monthly meeting Thursday.
Addressing the mayorally appointed nine-person panel, Witzburg said: “It is very much our view that the affidavit process is one that serves the ends of both the pursuit of accountability and the protection of the procedural rights of the members of the Chicago Police Department.”
And though she credited the CPD and COPA for their cooperation in the OIG investigation, Witzburg said in the agencies’ responses to the report “there’s the notion raised that there are pieces of information collected by the investigating agencies which do not become part of the investigative file but rather are kept on paper, outside of the electronic investigative record.”
“That is a concern from my perspective, both as a general matter of accountability and when it comes to the quality of the record, which might come before [the Police Board],” Witzburg added. “I think that at least, sort of, raises the specter of disciplinary street files” — information related to a case intentionally left out of the file because it could be damaging to the prosecution.
In 2017, the Justice Department released its findings from an investigation into a “pattern and practice” of Chicago police officers using excessive force. It found the affidavit requirement created a “tremendous disincentive to come forward with legitimate claims” and criticized investigators for failing to use the override process more often.
