The chief administrator of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) can be deposed as part of a lawsuit brought by Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 alleging COPA’s investigations into shooting deaths involving police officers are unlawful.
In the 2019 lawsuit filed in the Chancery Division of the Circuit Court, COPA Administrator Andrea Kersten moved to shield herself from being deposed by FOP attorneys, but on March 1, Judge Michael T. Mullen dismissed her motion, and ordered her deposition to take place by April 17.
The police have long contended that COPA investigations into police-involved shootings are not only unlawful but the outcomes weighted unfairly against them.
Kersten's deposition has been ordered.
Bob Bartlett, former Chair of the Legal Defense Committee at the FOP, told Chicago City Wire that “early on I came to realize COPA doesn't have the legal authority or possess the necessary training and skills to investigate these shootings.”
“I suspect an investigation into COPA will show a pattern of bias in which they steer investigations to a predetermined outcome."
The lawsuit charges that the COPA investigations violate the “Police and Community Relations Improvement Act.”
In the case, FOP attorneys cite the opinion of Brent Fischer, former Executive Director of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board, who in a 2018 letter to the FOP wrote: “Because COPA employees are not police officers…and are not primarily responsible for the prevention and detection of crime, they are not ‘law enforcement officers’ and are therefore ineligible to serve as lead investigators in death and homicide investigations.”
Alerts Sign-up