Activists want probe of police sexual misconduct with migrants expanded to every CPD station
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Amid an investigation into claims Chicago police officers had improper sexual relations with asylum seekers at a West Side police station, activists in Little Village want to see an investigation at all other CPD stations.
They also want asylum seekers moved out of all Chicago police stations.
"This is not a place that is fit for families, for individuals, when criminals are being brought in," said Baltazar Enriquez, president of the Little Village Community Council. "It's a dangerous place, and we've been screaming our hearts to find a safe place to put them. The police stations is not a fit place for them."
Hundreds of migrants have been forced to stay at Chicago police stations in recent months as the city has struggled to find sufficient temporary housing for thousands of migrants who have been sent to Chicago from Texas since last summer.
About 60 migrants living at the Ogden (10th) District station were relocated to other shelters across the city last week, after the Chicago Police Department and Civilian Office of Police Accountability launched investigations into allegations officers there were having sexual relations with migrants staying at the station.
Sources told CBS 2 that as many as four officers at the 10th (Ogden) District were involved in the alleged misconduct with at least one migrant who was staying there. Sources also told CBS 2 that a teenage migrant is now pregnant as a result of one of these alleged encounters. None of the officers allegedly involved in the misconduct have been identified.
Activists with the Little Village Community Council held a press conference Wednesday at COPA headquarters, calling for those officers to be fired and their names released once the investigations are complete.
"They are not above the law, and we are making sure that these migrants, these asylum seekers, have a voice; that this crime doesn't go and get put under the rug, and get ignored," Enriquez said. "There's a culture that the Police Department has where they do not investigate themselves when they commit a crime. They are not held accountable when they commit a crime."
They also said they want to meet with officials at COPA to discuss their guidelines for the investigation, and what protocols can be put in place to prevent any future sexual misconduct by officers with migrants. The activists also said COPA should open a similar investigation at all other 21 police stations in Chicago, and for all of the migrants at those stations to be moved out, saying what happened at the Ogden District station could be happening at other CPD stations.
"They need to respect us, because we are human in general. This is not something that we need to have, to be known as the city of Chicago, where they rape migrants," Enriquez said. "We want to make sure that we send out the message to those that are coming in that this is a welcoming city, this is a sanctuary city. We will help you be part of our community, we will embrace you, and we will make you part of our community."