CHICAGO (AP) – A deadly traffic stop where plainclothes Chicago police officers fired nearly 100 shots in less than a minute, raised serious questions about the use of force and the role of tactical officers in the departments.
As family members and the community mourn the 26-year-old Dexter ReedA police oversight agency and Cook County prosecutors are investigating.
Here’s a deeper look:
“serious concerns”
Videos and documents released this week by the Chicago Police Accountability Office paint a horrifying picture of what happened during the March 21 traffic stop.
But about a week ago, the leader of the watchdog agency expressed “serious concerns” about the officers’ actions in a letter to Police Chief Larry Snelling.
Officers in an unmarked squad car stopped Reed for not wearing a seat belt, according to COPA. But things escalated quickly as he appeared to refuse officers’ commands and did not immediately exit the SUV, according to the video.
Reed fired first, according to COPA, leaving an officer with a wrist injury. Four officers then fired 96 shots within 41 seconds, including after Reed exited the vehicle, fell to the ground and remained motionless. Only one officer fired 50 shots.
“Based on the totality of the available evidence, COPA has serious concerns about officers’ ability to judge what is a necessary, reasonable and proportionate use of deadly force,” COPA Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten wrote in an April 1 letter obtained through a records request.
The American Civil Liberties Union also criticized the officers’ actions, including immediately drawing weapons and giving profanity-laced commands.
“From the moment everyone jumps in the vehicle to chase the car, you can feel the adrenaline rush,” said ACLU of Illinois spokesman Ed Yonka. “There was no de-escalation effort.”
THE OFFICERS
The employees are on 30-day administrative leave pending investigations by COPA and the Cook County State’s Attorney.
In his letter, Kersten recommended re-evaluating the assignments of the four officers and relieving them of police powers during the investigation.
State’s Attorney Kim Fox said her office is investigating the possibility of criminal charges.
The officers were part of an “area tactical unit,” according to COPA. Chicago police say tactical officers have been part of every precinct’s patrol for years. They are usually sent to high crime areas, working in uniform and sometimes in street clothes.
Earlier this year, Snelling suspended a similar citywide unit formed during the 2020 riots, which was criticized for sending officers into unfamiliar police districts, among other things.
Elsewhere in the country, elite forces civilian police officers have come under scrutiny, especially after the beating and death of Tire Nichols in Memphis. While police say such units can respond to rising crime, advocates call for aggressive tactics and traffic stops to look for larger crimes.
Chicago was in deep crisis plan for court-supervised reforms of 2019. The US Department of Justice found a long history of racial bias and excessive use of force after police killed a teenager Laquan McDonald.
Community activists called for the employees to be fired immediately.
Chicago police declined to comment on the investigation.
THE STOPPING
Doubts have been raised as to whether there was a seat belt violation that led to the suspension.
Experts have questioned the involvement of tactical officers.
“Why would a non-uniformed police officer do something like this?” asked Jeffrey Alpert, a researcher at the University of South Carolina who specializes in high-risk policing.
Reid’s SUV had tinted windows, making it difficult for officers inside to see, Kersten noted in her letter.
“The available evidence casts doubt on the credibility of this account,” Kersten wrote to Snelling.
Reed’s family members were also skeptical.
“If he was supposed to be pulled over, why did they point four guns at him?” Reed’s sister, Portia Banks, told reporters after the videos were released. “He was scared.”
Meanwhile, the ACLU pointed to an alarming increase in traffic stops in Chicago that disproportionately affects black and Latino drivers.
Chicago police reported fewer than 100,000 traffic stops in 2015, compared to more than 500,000 last year, according to the advocacy group Impact for Equity.
THE INVESTIGATION
Key to the deadly force investigation will be determining the threat to the officers’ lives.
Police experts have raised eyebrows about the number of shots fired, including after Reed was on the ground.
“All 96 shots must be accounted for. It means, ‘Why were they fired?'” Alpert said. “The only reason you can fire is if that person poses an immediate threat.”
The videos do not show Reid firing a gun. Police later found a weapon in the passenger seat of his car.
Body-worn camera footage offers a glimpse into the confusing and worrying situation, including an officer applying a tourniquet to a bleeding colleague.
“They don’t know what they’re getting into half the time,” said Ryan Tobias, a psychologist who directs a forensic mental health program at Adler University in Chicago.
“They can be very suspicious, alert, hypervigilant,” he said. “Some of them will have a strong stress response.”
The police union accused COPA of pitting the community against the police.
Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara said officers “responded heroically” to someone who shot a police officer.
“It turned into so much more, not because of the officers,” he said in a video statement this week.
