2009-epstein-roberts-settlement.pdf

Police Board Documenter name: Annabel Rocha Agency: Chicago Police Board Date: Sept. 23, 2021 See more about this meeting at Documenters.org Notes The September Chicago Police Board meeting was held at 7:30 p.m. on September 23, 2021. Members assembled via Zoom due to concerns for COVID-19 safety. Adhering to the Illinois Open Meetings Act, members of the public were invited to participate in the meeting by audio conference. CAN-TV streamed the meeting on both their website and channel 27. The next public meeting will be held on October 21, 2021, with information on whether that will occur in person or virtually updated on their website. All members of the Chicago Police Board were present: Ghian Foreman, Chicago Police Board President Paula Wolff, Chicago Police Board Vice President Nanette Doorley, Rev. Michael Eaddy Steve Flores Jorge Montes Andrea Zopp Also present: Andrea Kersten, Interim Chief Administrator of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) Deborah Witzburg, Deputy Inspector General for Public Safety Michelle Rubino, Deputy Chief of CPD’s Bureau of Internal Affairs Brenden Deenihan, Chief of the Department of Detectives Larry Snelling, Deputy Chief of CPD’s Bureau of Patrol Dana O’Malley General Counsel to the Superintendent Max Caproni, Executive Director First Deputy Superintendent Eric Carter Board President Ghian Foreman opened the meeting at exactly 7:30 p.m. with a moment of silence in recognition of four Chicago Police Officers’ stars that were retired this week. Officers Martin Clifford, Marco DiFranco, Titus Moore and Ronald Newman all had COVID-19 related deaths in 2020. Only one disciplinary case was discussed during this meeting. In case #20PB2980 Superintendent Carter filed charges against Detective Jason Villarreal for misconduct involving two civilians. The Superintendent originally recommended discharging Villarreal, then revoked that recommendation after the parties agreed to settle this case. The motion passed with a unanimous vote 7-0 to suspend Villarreal for 180 days. Announcements by Superintendent Carter: ● An 18-year-old man in the south suburbs for spreading threats online involving several Chicago high schools. The man is currently being questioned, with charges expected to follow. ● CPD held a town hall meeting at Simeon High School to discuss the investigation of the shooting deaths of two high school students. ● CPD has cleared 260 homicides. The overall clearance rate so far this year is 45%. ● 9,093 guns have been recovered this year. This is a 17.3% increase from this time a year ago. ● CPD has arrested 1,007 people in car jacking related offenses. ○ The vehicular hijacking taskforce has been doubled from 40 to 80 officers. ○ On Sept. 11 officers arrested John Ray, 58, in connection to a July 15 carjacking in the 7800 block of S. Ingleside. Ray is charged with one count of aggravated vehicular hijacking with a firearm. ○ On Sept. 10, CPD arrested a 17-year-old male in connection to a carjacking on the 200 block of W. 22nd Place. He was charged with one count of vehicular carjacking on Sept. 8., and faces possession of a stolen motor vehicle in connection to another carjacking case. COPA Interim Chief Kersten announcements: ● In August, COPA received 450 complaints regarding officer conduct. 111 of these remain under COPA’s jurisdiction. ● 35% of cases COPA closed in August were considered to have “sustained findings and recommendations of discipline and/or training.” ● In August there was one video release of a July 9 officer-involved shooting.  ● COPA has released the body cam footage of the August 28 incident involving Nikkita Brown and a Chicago Police Officer at North Avenue Beach. ○ “COPA understands and recognizes that transparency, providing the public access to this information in as timely a manner as possible, is a bedrock of public trust.” About 19 members of the public were scheduled to participate in the meeting via phone conference. They were asked to adhere to a two minute timespan. Several callers demanded investigation and action in the cases involving the shooting death of Anthony Alvarez and Nikkita Brown. Summary ● The rise in carjackings around the city has been a heavy focus for CPD. ● The North Avenue Beach incident involving Nikkita Brown is a pressing issue for both CPD and COPA. The case has gathered significant media attention, as the interest in police conduct/misconduct, racial injustice and cell phone footage of officers continues to prevail. ● The investigation of the online threats to Chicago high schools is being taken seriously, given two Simeon high school students were shot this week. Follow-Up Questions What are you left wondering? Ask up to 3 of your own follow-up questions... ● What does COPA consider “transparency” during its investigations? Although he has not been charged, is not naming the officer involved in the North Avenue Beach incident true transparency, even if he provided his name to Nikkita Brown?