CPD won't reopen "deficient" probe into officers with alleged ties to Oath Keepers
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Chicago Police Department has refused to reopen an internal affairs investigation into several police officers with documented ties to extremist groups like Oath Keepers, despite a report from the city's top watchdog, which found the original probe was "materially deficient."
Inspector General Deborah Witzburg recommended that CPD reopen its investigation into eight officers with alleged ties to the right-wing extremist group after finding investigators only interviewed the officers themselves and did not take additional investigative steps or document whether their association with the Oath Keepers might have brought discredit upon the department.
"While the group, which was founded in 2009, has become more widely known following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, its members have been involved in numerous armed confrontations with government actors throughout the country dating back to the group's inception," Witzburg's report on the probe states.
Witzburg said it is an issue of public safety to let allegations circulate without being properly investigated that police officers are associated with extremist groups like Oath Keepers, the Proud Boys, or the Three Percenters.
"The Police Department cannot effectively keep people safe if no one trusts the police, and we cannot ask people to trust a police department whose members are allowed to dabble in hatred and extremism," said Witzburg.
While Witzburg urged CPD to reopen its investigation into the officers, CPD Internal Affairs Deputy Director Timothy Moore wrote a letter back to the inspector general's office saying the department does not believe the deficiencies cited in the report affected the overall outcome of the CPD investigation.
"None of the accused members stated that they had knowledge that the Oath Keepers were a violent extremist group, nor did they state that they had intentions of joining a violent extremist group. Most importantly, none of the accused members were actively participating or had previously participated in the group," Moore wrote. "The mere fact that the accused members signed up to become a member of an organization long before the average citizen and Office of Inspector General knew the group existed is not enough evidence to suggest the Chicago Police Department currently employs members of the Oath Keepers."
CPD's original closing report also "mentioned that memberships into organizations in itself is not a rule violation."
"I read the rules differently," Witzburg said. "CPD used to read the rules differently, too."
Just last year, CPD Supt. Larry Snelling told CBS News Chicago, "There's no room in the department for those individuals."
Mayor Brandon Johnson has said the same. When he ran for mayor last year, he promised to fire officers tied to far-right extremist groups.
In an April letter to Mayor Johnson, Deputy Inspector General for Public Safety Tobara Richardson said CPD has "fallen short" of promises to get rid of officers who belong to extremist groups and urged the mayor to create a task force "to plan for and implement a comprehensive, whole-of-government approach to preventing, identifying, and eliminating extremist and anti-government activities and associations within CPD."
However, in response to that letter, Deputy Mayor for Community Safety Garien Gatewood did not commit to any specific actions.
"The Johnson Administration and the Chicago Police Department remain fully committed to rooting out extremist, anti-government, and biased organizations in our law enforcement ranks. There is no place in the CPD for those who participate in such organizations," Gatewood wrote, without mentioning any plans to set up a task force to address the issue.
"The stakes here are incredibly high, and saying the right thing is no longer enough," Witzburg said.
Last November, the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability – the city's the city's civilian police oversight agency – unanimously approved a new policy to specifically ban police officers from participating in hate and extremist groups.
Before that vote, CPD general orders already prohibited officers from "membership in or affiliation with criminal organizations and from association with known members of criminal organizations."
The new policy expands that ban to "biased organizations" that use force to deny anyone their constitutional rights; to achieve political, religious, discriminatory, or ideological goals; or advocates for "systematic illegal prejudice, oppression, or discrimination."
The new policy also bars officers from membership in groups that "seek to overthrow, destroy, or alter the form of government of the United States by unconstitutional means."
The new policy officially went into effect last month.
Meanwhile at last check, the eight officers with alleged ties to the Oath Keepers are still on the job.
