City officials were summoned to a testy City Council committee hearing Friday to provide answers about the delayed implementation of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s order directing cops to investigate potential crimes committed by federal immigration agents.
Members of the Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights spent about two hours peppering mayoral aides and police leaders with questions about Johnson’s “ICE on Notice” executive order, asking what the decree has accomplished and what additional steps are needed to enforce it.
Police officials said the department had finalized internal procedures to implement the order, nearly five months after the mayor’s 30-day deadline. However, they wouldn’t say why it took so long.
“We value CPD and want to believe that officers are indeed here to preserve and protect our communities. But it is long past time for accountability to the public,” said Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th), the committee chair.
Hours earlier, Johnson issued a news release urging people to come forward with allegations of wrongdoing stemming from Operation Midway Blitz, the Trump administration’s pummeling deportation campaign last fall.
But the appeal did little to quell the frustrations of alderpersons and community members.
Committee members came prepared with a list of questions: How will the police department enforce the new policies? Has the entire department been notified of the changes? And who can file a police report if someone is detained by a federal agent?
Police officials said the department lacked a system for tracking complaints against federal agents. That means they had to establish new protocols for investigating those complaints, collecting evidence and identifying the federal agents who were involved.
Officers have been told to collect witness statements and submit reports, but the department won’t open criminal cases unless a victim or a victim’s relative comes forward.
“We have to work at the victim’s wishes and what the victim wants us to do — if the victim wants to pursue the case report that was generated or doesn’t,” said Patrick Kinney, commander in the Bureau of Detectives.
If a victim can’t file a report, a relative can come forward instead, officials said. That includes cases in which someone is detained by federal agents and family members can’t locate them. Police can then open an investigation into an agent’s conduct and the circumstances surrounding the arrest.
In Friday’s news release, Johnson’s office said the police department is reviewing a report issued in April by the Illinois Accountability Commission, assembled by Gov. JB Pritzker to investigate abuses by Midway Blitz agents. Individuals named in the report — and others who “witnessed or experienced unlawful conduct” — were urged to contact the police department.
During last year’s enforcement blitz, city residents — and even cops — were tear-gassed. Federal agents caused traffic crashes while making arrests. A woman was shot five times on the city’s Southwest Side, and an immigrant father was fatally shot in suburban Franklin Park.
Police officials said they’re looking for eyewitnesses and evidence. They said they’ll use footage from police cameras and license plate readers to investigate reports of crimes.
And while police officials said some information could be released publicly, evidence and other investigative materials will remain confidential to preserve the integrity of any potential criminal prosecution.
“Our biggest concern is making sure that any evidence that is brought to us can be introduced into court,” Kinney said. “Chain of custody is extremely important for us.”
The hearing was held amid what local advocates have described as a surge in immigration enforcement, and in the wake of two fatal shootings involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Texas and Maine.
No immigration agents have been charged with committing on-duty crimes in Cook County, despite loud calls for accountability. Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke has maintained that it’s up to police to investigate and refer cases to her office for charging.
That position was supported by Cook County Circuit Judge Erica Reddick, who rejected a request to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate alleged crimes by federal immigration agents.
