Anjanette Young Incident Fits In With Clear And Distinct Pattern Of Wrong Police Raids
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It has now become a national story – Chicago Police broke down the door of an innocent woman, Anjanette Young, who was naked as they handcuffed her.
On Wednesday, Young stood outside Chicago Public Safety Headquarters with a message for the mayor.
"I did vote for you. I told my friends to vote for you," Young said. "I believed in you as a Black woman running as mayor of City of Chicago."
Young also said she is suing the city for trying to keep the video secret.
Hours later, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said: "I am deeply sorry and troubled that her home was invaded. That is just not right. It simply should not have happened. It's a colossal mess."
The mayor said she will look to use the video as a training tool on what not to do – all as the result of CBS 2's investigation into this incident.
But this is not CBS 2's first investigation on wrong raids. CBS 2 Investigator Dave Savini has spent years https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2020/12/16/what-happened-to-anjanette-young-isnt-new-here-are-some-of-the-faces-of-cpd-wrong-raids/exposing wrong raids and even did a documentary on it.
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CBS 2 has uncovered a pattern of police officers raiding wrong homes. Read about it here:
And as CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey reported Wednesday evening, the outrage in
the Young incident is real – not just from Young herself, but from Chicagoans who are just learning about this pattern of wrong raids and a lack of accountability that we've been reporting on for years.
CPD body camera video of the raid in which Young was handcuffed is turning heads nationwide, thanks to the CBS 2 Investigators. It shows what Anjanette Young had been claiming for nearly two years - that police officers wrongly entered her home with guns drawn and handcuffed her naked as she screamed for help.
"It tells that they don't care about me," Young said Wednesday.
Young is upset that so far, the city and CPD have done nothing to make it right.
"At the hands of the police officers, who their job is to serve and protect," Young said. "Well, they didn't do that for me."
While the body cam video is excruciating to watch, this story is not new. It fits in the with clear and distinct pattern of wrong raids by the Chicago Police Department that we've been documenting for years.
The issue is a lack of accountability and a lack of transparency. Hickey talked with attorney Matt Topic of Loevy & Loevy about the problems that Young and others have faced.
Hickey: "Why did Anjanette young have to go to federal court to get her own body camera video?"
Topic: "Well, the reason is that the Chicago Police Department in the Lightfoot administration just like the Emanuel administration before and have total disregard for their obligations under the Freedom of Information Act."
On Wednesday, Topic filed a lawsuit on behalf of Young, calling for the city to be sanctioned for their refusal to turn over the her body cam - even after her own Freedom of Information Act Request and also a FOIA request from the CBS 2 Investigators.
Hickey: "So, what about the argument that this is an ongoing investigation?"
Topic: "The law does not allow them to withhold records just because it's an ongoing investigation."
But we've shown that the city does just that all the time.
In just one example, the city initially denied our FOIA requests and the request from the family of an 8-year-old boy handcuffed during another bad raid in 2019.
So while Young's disgraceful treatment is now getting nationwide attention, it speaks to a systemic injustice that we've been working to expose for years.
As a result of our investigation of wrong raids, this summer, lawyers involved in getting the federal consent decree mandating police reform demanded the city end abusive raids.
At last check, the city's Law Department has not produced a response.
Meanwhile, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability was crafted to effect reform. But we learned that COPA did not open the investigation or contact Young until nine months after the raid when CBS 2 first broke the story.
At last check, their investigation was still ongoing.
Also From CBS Chicago:
- 'You Have the Wrong Place:' Body Camera Video Shows Moments Police Handcuff Innocent, Naked Woman During Wrong Raid
- Lightfoot Sidesteps Questions About Why City Lawyers Tried to Keep Disturbing Body Camera Video Secret
- 3 High-Ranking Fire Department Officials Ask For Demotion, Including One Who Sources Say Was Twice Denied Boarding On A Plane Because He Was Drunk
