This investigation comes to light just days after a CPD commander was charged with official misconduct and aggravated battery after he put his gun in a suspect’s mouth and threatened to kill him. Commander Glenn Evans, who was one of Chicago Police Superintendents Garry McCarthy’s most valued officers, oversees the West Side’s Harrison patrol district, and is now charged with two felonies.
The incident occurred in January 2013 in the Park Manor neighborhood (at the time Evans was commander of the South Side’s Grand Crossing patrol district). Along with two other officers, Evans approached a 24-year-old man standing near 71st and Eberhart allegedly holding a handgun. The man started running the opposite direction, but the officer eventually arrested him in an abandoned house. The charges were later dropped.
During the arrest, Evans reportedly placed the barrel of his gun into the man’s mouth – which is confirmed by DNA testing on Evans’ gun – tasered his groin, and threatened him with gruesome detail. After these allegations came to light the Independent Police Review Authority investigated the complaint and recommended Evans be relieved of his powers until the case was closed. This never happened, and no discipline was ever taken. More than a dozen complaints were filed against Evans between 2001 and 2006, and he was never disciplined for any of them, although he was also named in several police misconduct lawsuits as well.
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The FBI is always able to charge officers with official misconduct in particularly egregious cases, but successful federal prosecution is extremely rare. CPD officers fatally shot 13 residents in 2013, and another 10 people so far this year. One of the most recent victims, Marlon Horton, was fatally shot outside a Chicago Housing Authority building on West Monroe. The shooting was captured by surveillance cameras located in the lobby.
The footage reveals that Horton received no medical assistance in the minutes after he was wounded, despite officers standing just feet away. Police officers are required to secure emergency assistance to any injured persons. Due to this blatant violation of civil rights and official policy, Horton’s brother filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Chicago, the officer who shot Horton, the security guard of the building and the company who employed her, and the Chicago Housing Authority.
It is not yet clear which specific cases or individuals the federal investigation centers on, only that it will involve cases where CPD officers shot at an unarmed offender. We will continue to update this blog as more information is reported and cases, such as Horton’s, are settled.
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