A new video appears to show a Chicago police officer arriving at the scene of a street takeover and pointing her gun out the window of a moving squadrol.
In the short clip, shared Monday night through the Citizen app, a white vehicle is seen spinning its wheels as it makes a circle in the intersection of 59th and Pulaski Road.
Police can be heard first sounding a siren before an officer appears to point her weapon downward through a mostly rolled up window. The officer seems to put away her gun before the CPD vehicle rolls through the intersection.
People on the street can be heard commenting on what had just happened. The video is 30 seconds long.
“It is simply not safe and not ethical; it’s not good policing,” said attorney Alexandra Block, director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois Policing Project.
Referring to the consent decree currently being implemented by the department, Block said, “for five years, the instruction to Chicago police officers has been de-escalation. And waving a loaded firearm at a crowd of people is not de-escalation.”
The Chicago Police Department said an internal investigation has been launched into the incident but it cannot comment further because of that pending investigation. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability said COPA was notified of the incident by the Bureau of Internal Affairs and is currently investigating.
Ald. Silvana Tabares of the 23rd Ward issued a statement saying, “illegal street takeovers are dangerous and can turn violent and deadly,” adding, “I will not jump to conclusions based on one clip from an apparent participant in the crime.”
Groups seeking police reforms lashed out at the conduct allegedly depicted in the video.
“I think the incident shows the lack of accountability within the Chicago Police Department,” said Michael Collins, a senior director at Color of Change. Collins said he thinks the officer should be fired or, at the very least, taken off the streets.
“We know officers are trained to handle these types of situations, and this is exactly what not to do,” he said.
The intersection of 59th and Pulaski is not far from a residential area. The people who live nearby said they have been calling for more police intervention during street takeovers like the one this week.
“I think cops are in a very difficult position because they are called to do something about it and they find there is nothing they can do about it,” said Neil Suwe.
Juan Villaro agreed. “He’s probably just doing his job,” Villaro said. “It’s a 3,000-pound car. They can use that as a weapon.”
FOP Lodge President John Catanzara Jr. said context matters when it comes to videos like this one.
“There have been several incidents in the last few years of groups and mobs of people surrendering and attacking police vehicles,” Catanzara said. “We are entitled to defend ourselves and go home safely.”