Chicago Police Board rules against COPA's recommendation that Officer Evan Solano, who shot and killed Anthony Alvarez, be fired
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Chicago Police Board has decided not to fire the officer who shot and killed 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez after a foot pursuit last year – contrary to the recommendations of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
The chief administrator of COPA had recommended that Officer Evan Solano be fired for the shooting that killed Alvarez. Police Supt. Brown disagreed – finding there was insufficient evidence to support the claims of violating departmental rules, including claims that he had used inappropriate force.
Police Board member Steven Block, who reviewed the case, ruled that Solano had acted reasonably under the circumstances. Thus, Block ruled in favor of Supt. Brown and against the recommendation that Solano be fired.
"Though Mr. Alvarez's death is undeniably tragic, Officer Solano and Officer Encarnacion's decisions and actions on March 31, 2021, were objectively reasonable based on the totality of the circumstances as the officers could reasonably perceive them," Block said.
Brown had advised that Solano and his partner, Officer Sammy Encarnacion, be suspended for 20 days -- which Block's ruling upheld.
Chief COPA Administrator Andrea Kersten took issue with the fact that Block made the decision himself to overrule COPA, rather than taking the matter to the full Police Board.
"I think with cases of this consequence – a fatal police shooting where there's voluminous amounts of evidence – it is important for cases like that to advance to the whole Police Board," Kersten said. "I'm not certain how many instances there have been of fatal police shootings that have not proceeded to full hearings, so certainly, we would have liked a different outcome."
Alvarez was shot by Solano while holding a gun in his right hand as he was running away from Solano and his partner on March 31, 2021.
Surveillance video from the night of the shooting, which happened in the early-morning hours on Wednesday, March 31 - shows a squad car chasing Alvarez at a gas station in Portage Park.
Officer Solano's body camera shows him running down an alley and eventually around a corner onto a front lawn near Laramie Avenue and Eddy Street. Alvarez's back was facing the officer at the moment he was shot, but a gun was visible in his right hand, moving from right to left. Solano shot him in the back and knee.
Alvarez was shot and killed two days after another officer shot and killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo in Little Village. Both incidents involved foot pursuits.
But while Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx ruled that the officers in both incidents might have violated foot pursuit policies, she also declined to file charges against either officer in March.
A new foot pursuit policy was unveiled this year. One of the biggest changes to the policy is that Chicago Police officers will no longer be able to chase after someone just because they run away. Instead, officers will now have to conduct a balancing test, and there also will now be accountability and data on foot chases.