Chicago City Wire

Good afternoon, Chairman Rodriguez and members of the Committee. My name is Kyle Cooper, and I am the President of the Chicago Police Board.

While I am relatively new to my role, for over 60 years, the Police Board, which is comprised of Chicago residents, has decided the most serious cases of police misconduct. It has and continues to do so in public and out in the open. For example, charges brought against officers are made available on the Police Board’s website. The Board conducts disciplinary hearings and takes final action in public. And, it publishes on its website detailed written decisions, explaining the rationale behind its findings.

This longstanding system has effectively promoted transparency and accountability in handling serious cases of police misconduct, and I can personally attest to the fact that the members of the Board objectively and seriously consider the facts, evidence and law of each case before reaching a disciplinary decision. This means that sometimes officers are found guilty, sometimes they are acquitted. In fact, a recent Chicago Reader article found that in 2022 and the first half of 2023, the Board ruled in favor of officers in termination cases in more than half of all cases.

Put simply, the current system serves both the public and the dedicated Chicago police officers who risk their lives daily to serve the City by ensuring that officers who commit misconduct are disciplined and that officers are acquitted where the Superintendent fails to prove by the preponderance of the evidence that an officer is guilty of the charged misconduct.

Now, 40 years after The Illinois Public Labor Relations Act was passed, the Police Union has decided it no longer wants the Chicago residents appointed to the Police Board to decide serious cases of police misconduct. Instead, it wants these cases to be handled by private, hand-picked arbitrators in proceedings that, by their very nature, will be shrouded in secrecy. In a decision filled with direct threats to you and your colleagues and bizarre references to conspiracy theories, Arbitrator Benn has granted the Union’s request.

The Arbitrator’s ruling would be a serious setback for police accountability in Chicago and a disservice to the City’s residents and vast majority of police officers. I urge you to once again reject his decision. I say this for five main reasons:

First, numerous studies have shown that when police disciplinary cases are funneled through private arbitration, officers either evade punishment altogether, or their recommended sentences are routinely reduced by as much as 50%. Thus, arbitration leads to less, not more police accountability.

Making it more difficult to hold officers accountable will likely increase, not decrease, the amount the City will have to pay for police-misconduct judgments and settlements. In fact, as WTTW reported last week, over the last four years, repeat police misconduct has already cost Chicago taxpayers $142.8 million.

Second, cases currently before the Board and set for a public hearing, including the case stemming from the Adam Toledo shooting that is scheduled for next week, would instead be driven behind closed doors.

Third, according to the arbitrator’s decision, officers would remain on the payroll while the decision to fire them is before an arbitrator. Thus, an officer such as Jason Van Dyke would continue to receive his full salary and benefits while his case is pending.

Fourth, there is no provision in the decision requiring arbitrators to complete the same training mandated for members of the Police Board under the Consent Decree.

Fifth, the arbitrator’s decision reinforces an arbitrary retroactive effective date of September 14, 2022, which is a date more than a year before the Arbitrator issued his final award. There is simply no valid legal or factual basis for why the arbitration award, even if allowed to take effect, should be retroactive to that date.

Thus, there are both practical and legal reasons for rejecting the Arbitrator’s ruling, and, in the interest of justice, transparency and accountability, I urge you to again reject this decision and support the continued involvement of Chicago residents in deciding serious cases of police misconduct. The integrity of our police accountability system and the trust of our community depend on it. Thank you.

Original source can be found here.