Chicago police ‘unprepared’ to handle Floyd protests: monitor group

The Independent Monitoring Team (IMT) for the Chicago Police Department (CPD) filed a report Tuesday that found the department was significantly “unprepared” to handle the racial justice protests that took place last year following the murder of George Floyd.

“In short, the City, like many other cities, was unprepared for the level of sustained protests and unrest downtown and throughout its neighborhoods, starting at the end of May 2020,” the report filed in federal court by independent monitor Maggie Hickey read.

“While the City and the CPD regularly plan, prepare, and respond to large crowds and events, the City’s and the CPD’s standard approach regarding protests and unrest was inadequate for responding to quickly evolving mass movements — often fueled by social media — during a pandemic and corresponding stay-at-home orders, economic crises, unemployment, and resource shortage,” the report continued.

Hickey pointed to how many officers were deployed to handle protests without equipment and often went without basic needs such as transportation, rest periods, food and water.

“Thus, even if the City and the CPD had predicted the level of protests and unrest after the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, the City and the CPD did not have the policies, reporting practices, training, equipment, data analysis, community engagement, or inter-agency coordination required to respond effectively,” the report added.

Despite lacking “sufficient planning or preparation,” Hickey wrote that many officers conducted themselves “professionally and admirably under abnormally stressful circumstances.” However, she added that other officers “engaged in various levels of misconduct and excessive force” that are still being investigated.

The report recommends that CPD prioritize better data collection; better community communication both before and after events that are either planned or unplanned; and updated policies on First Amendment activities. The report also recommends improvements on accountability, including the reporting and documentation of “uses of force, arrest, deployments, dispersals, officer wellness and safety, all injuries,” and use of pepper spray.

“The City and CPD must take immediate, deliberate, and transparent efforts—in compliance with the Consent Decree—to better protect, serve, and be accountable to the people of Chicago and all communities,” Hickey said in a press release. “Their efforts must be transparent to remedy the trust that was harmed and to ensure that, in improving their ability to respond, the City and the CPD do not ignore either constitutional policing or concerns about over-policing and over-militarized responses that inspired so many people to take to the streets.”