The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the primary
law enforcement agency
A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...
of the city of
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, Illinois, United States, under the jurisdiction of the
Chicago City Council
The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the Law and government of Chicago, government of the Chicago, City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 Wards of the United States, wards to serve four-year t ...
. It is the second-largest
municipal police department in the United States, behind the
New York City Police Department
The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...
. As of 2023 CPD had 11,703 sworn officers on duty, and in 2020 had more than 948 other employees.
Tracing its roots to 1835, the Chicago Police Department is one of the oldest modern police departments in the world.
The Chicago Police Department has both a past & recent-present history of
police brutality
Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...
,
racial profiling
Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the offender profiling, selective enforcement or selective prosecution based on race or ethnicity, rather than individual suspicion or evidence. This practice involves discrimination against minority pop ...
,
misconduct
Misconduct is wrongful, improper, or unlawful conduct motivated by premeditated or intentional purpose or by obstinate indifference to the consequences of one's acts. It is an act which is forbidden or a failure to do that which is required. Misc ...
and
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
, and at one point,
tortured multiple people in custody in the 1980s.
In 2017, the
US Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equ ...
criticized the department for poor training, lack of oversight, and repeated incidents of excessive force.
Department structure
Office of the Superintendent
The Superintendent of Police leads the Chicago Police Department.
In 1960, the municipal government created a five-member police board charged with nominating a superintendent to be the chief authority over police officers, drafting and adopting rules and regulations governing the police system, submitting budget requests to the city council, and hearing and deciding disciplinary cases involving police officers.
Criminologist
Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...
O. W. Wilson was brought on as Superintendent of Police, and served until 1967 when he retired.
This position, in its current iteration, has existed as the head of the Chicago Police Department since 1960.
Salary
Starting salary for Chicago police officers in 2024 is $58,842, which is increased to $83,970 after 18 months. Promotions to specialized or command positions also increase an officer's base pay. Salaries were supplemented with a $2,920 annual duty availability and an $1,800 annual uniform allowance.
Demographics
In 2017, the composition of the department's sworn personnel by gender was 77% male and 23% female.
The highest ranked woman in Chicago police history was Barbara West, who was appointed to the department's third-highest rank (the deputy superintendent) in 2020.
In 2017, the racial composition of the department's sworn personnel was:
* 50% non-Hispanic White
* 25% Hispanic (of any race)
* 21% African American
* 3% Asian American/Pacific Islander
* 1% other
Union
The Chicago Police Department became
unionized
A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
at the end of 1980. Chicago police officers are represented by the
Fraternal Order of Police
The National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) is a fraternal organization consisting of sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. It reports a membership of over 355,000 members organized in 2,100 local chapters (lodges), state lodge ...
. In 2020, Officer
John Catanzara was elected as the head of the union. Cataranza has one of the worst disciplinary records in the department. Previously in 2017, Cataranza stated of Muslims: "Savages they all deserve a bullet." Later, he defended the
January 6 United States Capitol attack
On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob of supporters of Donald Trump, President Donald Trump in an attempted self-coup,Multiple sources:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* two months afte ...
, saying, "They're individuals ... They get to do what they want."
Oversight
Five government agencies are charged with various aspects of police oversight in Chicago: a set of 22 Police District Councils, the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, the Chicago Police Board, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, and the Deputy Inspector General for Public Safety. Most of these bodies were created by ordinances passed in 2016 and 2021, and their membership is determined through a mix of appointments by the
Mayor of Chicago
The mayor of Chicago is the Chief executive officer, chief executive of city Government of Chicago, government in Chicago, Illinois, the List of United States cities by population, third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsib ...
, confirmations by the
Chicago City Council
The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the Law and government of Chicago, government of the Chicago, City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 Wards of the United States, wards to serve four-year t ...
, and elections.
History
According to historian Sam Mitrani, the Chicago Police Department professionalized and grew in size during the 19th century in order to quell labor unrest. City policymakers cooperated with business elites in terms of structuring the police department. The Chicago Police Department remained beset by vast
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
well into the 20th century.
19th century

In 1825, prior to the creation of
Cook County
Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...
, what would later become the village of Chicago, was then located in
Putnam County. Archibald Clybourn was appointed to be Constable of the area between the DuPage River and Lake Michigan. Clybourn went on to become an important citizen of the city, and the diagonal Clybourn Avenue is named after him.
Chicago was given authorization to establish a police force on January 31, 1835, and it was formally established on August 15, with Orsemus Morrison as its first constable. The
Municipal Court of Chicago
The Municipal Court of Chicago was the name of two municipal courts that existed at separate times in the history of the City of Chicago. These courts played crucial roles in the local judicial system, addressing both civil and criminal matters ...
was created in 1837. The title of the leader of the department, Head Constable, was changed to City Marshall in 1841, with Orson Smith being the first to hold it.
Cyrus P. Bradley, who was appointed chief of police on May 26, 1855, reorganized the department in 1855, with the day and night watches being combined and its size increasing by sixfold. Chicago was divided into three police divisions and districts. Uniforms were instituted in 1858, as prior to this officers wore plain clothes. In 1855, the newly elected city council passed ordinances to formally establish the Chicago Police Department. Chicago was divided into three police precincts, each served by a station house. Station No. 1 was located in a building on State Street between Lake and Randolph streets. Station No. 2 was on West Randolph Street near Des Plaines Street. Station No. 3 was on Michigan Street (since then renamed Hubbard Street
) near Clark Street. Political connections were important to joining the force; formal requirements were few, until 1895. After 1856, the department hired many foreign-born recruits, especially unskilled, but English-speaking, Irish immigrants.
There were 67 total police officers in 1860, compared to the over 100,000 inhabitants of Chicago. In 1860, the detective forces were established. In 1861, the state legislature created the Chicago Police Commission (abolished in 1875). Mayor
John Wentworth, an opponent of the state's control over the police, fired the city's entire police force on March 27, 1861. Most of these men were rehired by the police board within a few hours.
James L. Shelton became the department's first black officer in 1871. In 1875, the
Illinois General Assembly
The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in ...
found that the police commissioners were unable to control rampant corruption within the Chicago Police Department. The legislature passed a new law returning power over the police to the mayor. The mayor was allowed to appoint a single police commissioner with the advice and consent of the city council.
In 1896, a parade of Chicago police officers was the subject of the first film ever to be shot in Chicago.
Women entered the force in 1885, as
matrons, caring for female prisoners.
Marie Owens
Marie Owens (December 21, 1853 – June 1927; born Marie Connolly aka Marie Connolly Owens) is believed to have been the first female police officer in the U.S. and the first female police officer in the Chicago Police Department, in 1891, r ...
is believed to have been the first female police officer in the U.S., joining the Chicago Police Department in 1891, retiring in 1923. Holding the rank of Sergeant, Owens enforced child labor and welfare laws.
Despite centralized policies and practices, the captains who ran the precincts or districts were relatively independent of headquarters, owing their jobs to neighborhood politicians. Decentralization meant that police could respond to local concerns, but graft often determined which concerns got the most attention. In 1895, Chicago adopted civil service procedures, and written tests became the basis for hiring and promotion. Standards for recruits rose, though policing remained political.
20th century
In 1906, the Department's Mounted Patrol was created to provide crowd control, and in 1908, the force was granted its first three motor cars, expanding in 1910 to motorbikes and boats. Female officers were formally appointed beginning on August 13, 1913, starting with ten officers that included
Alice Clement. In 1918, Grace Wilson, possibly the first black female police officer in United States history, joined the force. In 1913, Clement became the first female police detective for the Chicago Police Department.
In 1917, the Chicago Police Reserves were formed, organized on a regimental basis. They were used to assist or replace regular officers in high-crowd events, such as
Memorial Day
Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May.
It i ...
, and during the
1918 flu pandemic
The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the Influenza A virus subtype H1N1, H1N1 subtype of the influenz ...
, worked for two weeks to enforce stringent health regulations.
The
Saint Valentine's Day Massacre led to the creation of the United States' first crime laboratory at
Northwestern University
Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
, purchased by the Department in 1938.
Orlando W. Wilson, the first civilian superintendent, was appointed by the mayor in 1960. A former dean of criminology, Wilson introduced major reforms to the Department, including a new and innovative communications center, the reduction of police stations, a fairer promotion process, and an emphasis on motorized patrol over foot patrol. Vehicles were painted blue and white and given blue lightbars, introducing the familiar Sillitoe tartan headbands, and the official motto, 'We Serve And Protect'. In 1963, the Cadet Program was also introduced.
The
1968 Democratic National Convention
The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Earlier that year incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, thus making ...
in
Grant Park led to major criticism of the Chicago Police's crowd control methods, with the
Walker Report criticizing both the Department and the National Guard for use of excessive force, and called the events a
police riot
A police riot is a riot carried out by the police; more specifically, it is a riot that police are responsible for instigating, escalating or sustaining as a violent confrontation. Police riots are often characterized by widespread police bruta ...
.
The Department's
Mounted Patrol was disbanded in 1948. The Department's Mounted Patrol was re-established in 1974, renamed simply as the Mounted Unit.
In April 1977, the CPD adopted a flag.
In August 1983, the Chicago Police Department's first black superintendent,
Fred Rice Jr., was appointed by Mayor
Harold Washington
Harold Lee Washington (April 15, 1922 – November 25, 1987) was an American lawyer and politician who was the 51st mayor of Chicago. In April 1983, Washington became the first African American to be elected as the city’s mayor at the age of ...
, the city's first black mayor. The first Hispanic superintendent, Matt L. Rodriguez, was appointed by Mayor
Richard M. Daley
Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh ter ...
in 1992.
21st century

The new Chicago Police Department Headquarters was opened on June 3, 2000, replacing an extremely aged and outdated building located at 1121 South State Street.
In 2018, the Chicago PD began a “narcotics arrest diversion program” to help individuals without
violent crime
A violent crime, violent felony, crime of violence or crime of a violent nature is a crime in which an offender or perpetrator uses or threatens to use harmful Force (law), force upon a victim. This entails both crimes in which the violence, vio ...
records who are habitual narcotic users. Working with Chicago-based Thresholds, an
addiction recovery agency, the police give those suffering from substance abuse disorder one final chance: If they enter the program, charges against them are dropped. In 2020, three African Americans, David Brown, Eric Carter and Barbara West, were appointed to the Chicago PD's three highest ranking positions, marking the first time in history that the department's Superintendent, 1st Deputy Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent were African American.
In 2021, during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, the largest union for the CPD compared vaccine requirements for police to the
Holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
. The union head encouraged CPD officers not to get vaccinated.
In August 2022, the number of sworn officers was 11,611, which was down 1,742 officers from its peak four years prior.
[Officer Exodus: 1,000+ Chicago cops left the job last year](_blank)
Ben Bradley and Andrew Schroedter, WGN-TV, 31 January 2023
2017 Department of Justice report and agreement for enforcement
Following the McDonald shooting, Illinois attorney general
Lisa Madigan requested that the
Department of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
(DOJ) conduct a civil rights investigation of the department. The agency released a report in January 2017, announcing an agreement with the city to work on improvements under court supervision. The report strongly criticized the police for a culture of excessive violence, especially against minority suspects and the community, and said that there was insufficient and poor training and a lack of true oversight.
The lack of training was one of the main targets of the DOJ report. The DOJ criticized the department for "check the box" training that relied heavily on
PowerPoint presentations and included poorly executed training exercises in the field. The DOJ also observed recruits falling asleep during training.
In the aftermath of the investigation, Chicago mayor
Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician, advisor, diplomat, and former investment banker who most recently served as List of ambassadors of the United States to Japan, United States ambassador to Japan from 2022 ...
approved the construction of a new training facility for the police and fire departments. The new building cost an estimated $95 million.
Controversies
The Chicago Police Department has a history of
scandals
A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way a ...
,
police misconduct
Police misconduct is inappropriate conduct and illegal actions taken by police officers in connection with their official duties. Types of misconduct include among others: sexual offences, false confession, coerced false confession, intimidation, ...
,
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
,
police brutality
Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...
, and other controversies.
Since 2019, the CPD has been subject to a
consent decree
A consent decree is an agreement or settlement that resolves a dispute between two parties without admission of guilt (in a criminal case) or liability (in a civil case). Most often it is such a type of settlement in the United States. The ...
requiring the department to enact reforms in discipline, supervision, training and recruiting of its police officers. This was in the wake of a 2017
Department of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
report which found that the CPD had a history of civil rights violations by officers, including a "pattern and practice" of police brutality and abuse.
Summerdale scandals
The Chicago Police Department did not face large-scale reorganization efforts until 1960 under
Mayor Richard J. Daley. That year, eight officers from the Summerdale police district on Chicago's North Side were accused of operating a large-scale burglary ring. The Summerdale case dominated the local press, and became the biggest police-related scandal in the city's history at the time. Mayor Daley appointed a committee to make recommendations for improvements to the police department. The action resulted in the creation of a five-member board charged with nominating a superintendent to be the chief authority over police officers, enacting rules and regulations governing the police system, submitting budget requests to the city council, and overseeing disciplinary cases involving officers.
Criminologist
Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...
O.W. Wilson was brought on as Superintendent of Police, and served until 1967 when he retired.
1968 Democratic National Convention
Both Daley and the Chicago Police Department faced a great deal of criticism for the department's actions during the
1968 Democratic National Convention
The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Earlier that year incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, thus making ...
, which was held in Chicago from August 26 to 29, 1968.
The convention was the site of a series of protests, mainly over the
war in Vietnam. Despite the poor behavior of some protesters, there was widespread criticism that the Chicago Police and
National Guard
National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards.
...
used
excessive force
Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...
. ''
Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' published an article stating:
Subsequently, the
Walker Report to the
called the police response a "
police riot
A police riot is a riot carried out by the police; more specifically, it is a riot that police are responsible for instigating, escalating or sustaining as a violent confrontation. Police riots are often characterized by widespread police bruta ...
", assigning blame for the mayhem in the streets to the Chicago Police.
The Black Panther raid
On December 4, 1969,
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newto ...
leaders
Fred Hampton
Fredrick Allen Hampton Sr. (August 30, 1948 – December 4, 1969) was an American activist and revolutionary socialist. He came to prominence in his late teens and early 20s in Chicago as deputy chairman of the national Black Panther Party and c ...
and
Mark Clark were shot and killed by officers working for the Cook County state's attorney,
Edward Hanrahan. Though the police claimed they had been attacked by heavily armed Panthers, a subsequent investigation showed that all but one of the bullets fired came from police weapons. Relatives of the two dead men eventually won a multimillion-dollar judgment against the city. For many
African Americans
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...
, the incident symbolized prejudice and lack of restraint among the largely white police. The incident led to growing black voter disaffection with the
Democratic machine.
Ryan Harris murder
On July 28, 1998, an 11-year-old girl, Ryan Harris, was found raped and murdered in a vacant lot in the city's
Englewood neighborhood. The
homicide
Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A homicide requires only a Volition (psychology), volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from Accident, accidenta ...
caught the nation's attention when, 12 days after Ryan's body was found, authorities, with the blessing of police command, charged a 7-year-old boy and 8-year-old boy with the murder, making them the youngest murder suspects in the nation at the time.
Semen
Semen, also known as seminal fluid, is a bodily fluid that contains spermatozoon, spermatozoa which is secreted by the male gonads (sexual glands) and other sexual organs of male or hermaphrodite, hermaphroditic animals. In humans and placen ...
found at the scene and subsequent
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...
tests totally cleared the boys of the crime and pointed to convicted sex offender Floyd Durr. The boys each filed lawsuits against the city, which were eventually settled for millions of dollars. Durr pleaded guilty to the rape of Harris, but never admitted to her murder.
Russ/Haggerty shootings
In the summer of 1999, two unarmed black motorists, Robert Russ and LaTanya Haggerty, were fatally shot in separate incidents involving the Chicago Police. In the first incident, Russ, an honor student and star football player for
Northwestern University
Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
, was shot in his car. This followed a high-speed chase and what the police claim was a struggle with the officer who shot him. In the second, Haggarty, a computer analyst, was shot by a female officer. Charges of racism against the CPD persisted. Both shootings resulted in lawsuits and Haggerty's family reached an $18 million settlement with the city.
In
Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Timothy Gladwell (born 3 September 1963) is a Canadian journalist, author, and public speaker. He has been a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' since 1996. He has published eight books. He is also the host of the podcast ''Revisionist ...
's book on the cognitive function of snap judgments, ''
Blink
Blinking is a bodily function; it is a semi-autonomic rapid closing of the eyelid. A single blink is determined by the forceful closing of the eyelid or inactivation of the levator palpebrae superioris and the activation of the palpebral por ...
'', well-known criminologist and police administrator
James Fyfe said that Chicago police instructions in cases such as Russ's were "very detailed".
[Gladwell, p. 228.] He said that the record shows that the officers involved all broke procedure and let the situation become unnecessarily deadly for the suspect. For instance, after claiming to see Russ drive erratically, the officers engaged in a driving pursuit. The pursuit, labeled "high-speed", did not exceed 70 miles per hour, but Fyfe contends that the adrenaline rush of the chase, coupled with the officers' reliance in their numbers, led to their ignoring impulses to maintain rational thinking in a potentially non-deadly situation. They speeded up a process that both allowed and required taking things more slowly and methodically. Russ's car spun out on the
Ryan Expressway, at which point several officers quickly approached his vehicle. According to Gladwell, the false safety of numbers gave the three officers "the bravado to rush the car". Fyfe adds, "The lawyers
or the policewere saying that this was a fast-breaking situation. But it was only fast-breaking because the cops let it become one. He was stopped. He wasn't going anywhere."
Fyfe describes appropriate police procedure and contrasts the events that contributed to Russ's death thus:
Gladwell also notes that the Russ and Haggerty killings occurred on the same night.
Joseph Miedzianowski
In April 2001,
Joseph Miedzianowski was convicted of
racketeering
Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...
and drug conspiracy during much of his 22-year career with the department. In January 2003 he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. His partner John Galligan and 24 other drug dealers were also arrested as part of the same investigation.
William Hanhardt
In October 2001, Deputy Superintendent William Hanhardt pled guilty to running a nationwide jewel-theft ring that over twenty years may have stolen five million dollars' worth of diamonds and other gems. He had served with the department for 33 years and was sentenced to twelve years in federal custody.
Eddie C. Hicks
In December 2001, Sergeant Eddie C. Hicks was indicted for operating a gang with other CPD officers. The group would raid drug houses, taking the contraband for resale. Hicks skipped a court appearance on June 9, 2003, and was placed on the FBI's most-wanted list. Hicks was arrested in Detroit on September 12, 2017, nearly 15 years after he fled on the eve of trial on federal drug conspiracy charges. Hicks, 68, has been the subject of an international manhunt since 2003, according to the FBI. He appeared in federal court in Detroit on Tuesday and was ordered held until he can be brought to Chicago to face the charges.
Jon Burge torture allegations
Since the early 1980s, official investigations have responded to numerous allegations against former Commander
Jon Burge, who has been accused of abusing more than two-hundred mostly African-American men from 1972 to 1991 in order to
coerce confessions to crimes.
Alleged victims claimed that Burge and his crew of detectives had them beaten, suffocated, burned, and treated with electric shock. In 1993, Burge was fired from the department, and collected his police
pension
A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...
until his death in 2018. In summer 2006, special prosecutors completing a four-year investigation concluded that they had enough evidence to prove crimes against Burge and others, but "regrettably" could not bring charges because the statute of limitations had passed.
In January 2008, the City Council approved a $19.8 million settlement with four men who claimed abuse by Burge and his men.
In October 2008,
Patrick J. Fitzgerald,
United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, had Burge arrested on charges of
obstruction of justice
In United States jurisdictions, obstruction of justice refers to a number of offenses that involve unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investiga ...
and
perjury
Perjury (also known as forswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an insta ...
in relation to a civil suit regarding the torture allegations against him. Burge was eventually convicted on all counts on June 28, 2010, and was sentenced to four and one-half years in federal prison on January 21, 2011.
On May 6, 2015, Chicago City Council approved "reparations" of $5.5 million to victims of the torture, after spending $100 million in previous legal settlements. In addition, an apology was offered, and a promise to teach school children about these historical events.
According to a 2020 study, torture was used against 125 black suspects (many of whom were found to be innocent) over the years 1972 to 1991.
In 2009, the Illinois state government created the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission to investigate torture by police.
Nurse arrests
On November 19, 2002, Rachelle Jackson, a registered nurse, was on her way to work when she witnessed a vehicle accident involving a patrol car, in which Officer Kelly Brogan was dazed and her partner was unconscious. Fearing an explosion, Jackson removed both officers from the vehicle, and voluntarily went to the police station under the assumption of giving a statement after being informed that Brogan's service weapon was stolen. Instead, she was interrogated for two days with little food or sleep and no access to a bathroom. She was coerced into signing a statement that she had battered Brogan and taken her gun. She was jailed for 10 months before the charges were dismissed. Jackson was awarded $7.9 million by a jury in her lawsuit against Brogan and the city. In 2009, the amount was reduced to $1.9 million. More than half the original verdict was awarded for "intentional infliction of emotional distress."
Skullcap Crew
Skullcap Crew is a nickname given to a group of five
Chicago Police officers in a
gang
A gang is a social group, group or secret society, society of associates, friends, or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over Wiktionary:territory#Noun, territory in a ...
tactical unit who have been the subject of abuse complaints by citizens. They have also won praise within the Chicago Police Department. They have been involved in more than 20 federal
lawsuit
A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today ...
s.
Bar attack
In 2007, security camera footage surfaced of an intoxicated off-duty police officer, Anthony Abbate, punching and kicking a female bartender, Karolina Obrycka. This occurred at Jesse's Shortstop Inn on February 19, 2007, after Obrycka refused to serve him any more alcohol. Abbate was later arrested, charged with felony battery, and stripped of police powers after TV news stations aired the footage. The Chicago Police soon terminated Abbate from the force, but questions remained over the city's handling of the case.
Abbate was allowed to enter his courtroom hearing through a side door, in order to shield himself from the press. This generated controversy, and allegations surfaced that the police ticketed the vehicles of news organizations and threatened reporters with arrest. Superintendent Cline announced that he would demote the Captain who gave the orders, and launched investigations into the actions of the other officers involved.
On April 27, 2007, 14 additional charges against Abbate were announced. These included
official misconduct
An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of the ...
,
conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...
,
intimidation
Intimidation is a behaviour and legal wrong which usually involves deterring or coercing an individual by threat of violence. It is in various jurisdictions a crime and a civil wrong (tort). Intimidation is similar to menacing, coercion, terro ...
, and speaking with a witness. Abbate pleaded not guilty to all 15 charges during a brief hearing on May 16, 2007.
Referring to Abbate, Superintendent Phil Cline stated, "He's tarnished our image worse than anybody else in the history of the department." The video of the attack has been viewed worldwide on 24-hour news channels and has garnered more than 100,000 views on
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. In the wake of this scandal and a similar scandal related to another videotaped police beating at a bar, Cline announced his retirement on April 2, 2007. While both men have denied it, some believe that Cline retired under pressure from Mayor
Richard M. Daley
Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh ter ...
. Daley has since announced a plan to create an independent police review authority to replace the current Office of Professional Standards (OPS), which is under the jurisdiction of the police department.
On April 30, 2007, attorneys representing Obrycka filed a lawsuit in the
against the city of Chicago and Abbate and several other individuals. On November 13, 2012, a federal jury found that a "widespread
code of silence
A code of silence is a condition in effect when a person opts to withhold what is believed to be vital or important information voluntarily or involuntarily.
The code of silence is usually followed because of threat of force or danger to onese ...
" within the Chicago Police Department had allowed Abbate to feel that he could attack Obrycka without fear of reprisal. They also found that Abbate participated in a conspiracy to cover up the attack. The jury awarded Obrycka $850,000 in damages.
Abbate was convicted of
aggravated battery, a felony, on June 2, 2009. Cook County Circuit Judge John J. Fleming rejected Abbate's claims that he had acted in self-defense. However, since Obrycka testified that Abbate had not identified himself as an officer during the attack Abbate was acquitted of official misconduct charges. Abbate faced up to five years in prison for the attack. On June 23, 2009, Abbate was sentenced to two years probation, including a curfew between 8:00p.m. and 6:00a.m., mandatory attendance at anger management classes, and 130hours of community service.
On December 15, 2009, Abbate was officially fired from the Chicago Police Department after a mandatory review by the Chicago Civilian Police Board. The firing was a formality, as the Chicago Police Department does not allow convicted felons to serve on the force.
Jerome Finnigan
Chicago Police Officers Jerome Finnigan, Keith Herrera, Carl Suchocki, and Thomas Sherry were indicted in September 2007 for robbery,
kidnapping
Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...
,
home invasion
A home invasion, also called a hot prowl burglary, is a sub-type of burglary (or in some jurisdictions, a separately defined crime) in which an offender unlawfully enters into a building residence while the occupants are inside. The overarching i ...
, and other charges. They were alleged to have robbed
drug dealers
The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types ...
and ordinary citizens of money, drugs, and guns. The officers were all part of
Special Operations Sections (SOS). The officers had allegedly victimized citizens for years; however, allegations of their misconduct were not investigated until 2004. According to the
State's Attorney
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...
, the officers repeatedly missed court dates and allowed alleged drug dealers to go free. Several lawsuits alleging misconduct on behalf of Finnigan and his team have been filed in
federal court. Since the original indictments, Jerome Finnigan has also been charged with attempting to have several fellow officers killed. Since the scandal involving Finnigan, SOS has been disbanded.
On February 11, 2009, charges against Chicago Police Department officers Tom Sherry and Carl Suchocki were dropped. A Cook County judge dismissed all criminal charges accusing them of robbery and home invasion after some evidence was proven to be false, and witnesses in the case against Sherry and Suchocki were unable to place the officers at the scene of the crime. Charges against Herrera and Finnigan, however, are still pending. As of September 25, 2009, seven former SOS officers have pleaded guilty to charges relating to the scandal. The investigation is ongoing as police officers continue to come forward and cooperate with the state and federal investigation.
Shooting of Flint Farmer
On June 7, 2011, Flint Farmer was fatally shot three times in the back by
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
Police Officer Gildardo Sierra. Sierra and a partner had responded to a domestic disturbance call allegedly involving Farmer. When confronted by the police, Farmer fled. Sierra shot at Farmer multiple times, hitting him in the leg and abdomen. Publicly available police video shows Sierra circle the prone Farmer as three bright flashes emit from approximately waist level.
The coroner who performed the autopsy on Farmer reported that Farmer could have survived the shots to the leg and abdomen, but any of the three shots through the back would have been fatal.
Officer Sierra had been involved in two other shootings in 2011. Although the Chicago police department ruled the shooting justified, by October 23, 2011, Sierra had been stripped of his police powers and the FBI had opened an investigation into the incident. Eventually, no charges were brought against the officers. The city settled the civil case with Farmer's family for $4.1 million but did not admit fault.
Richard Zuley
Richard Zuley was a police detective who retired from the Chicago Police Department in 2007. After his retirement, multiple inquiries into overturned convictions that had relied on confessions he coerced triggered the Conviction Integrity Unit of the Cook County State's Attorney's Office to plan to subpoena Zuley's entire complaint history.
Zuley faces multiple lawsuits from individuals who claim he framed them, or beat confessions from them.
Lathierial Boyd was exonerated and freed in 2013 after serving 23 years in prison, based on evidence from Zuley and suppression of exculpatory evidence. He filed a federal civil rights lawsuit, as well as suing the city, saying that Zuley framed him for a murder and attempted murder outside a nightclub in 1990.
Anthony Garrett, who received a 100-year sentence for killing a seven-year-old boy, alleged Zuley beat his confession out of him.
On February 18, 2015,
Spencer Ackerman, reporting in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
,'' covered Zuley's alleged involvement in the torture and forced confessions of several homicide cases in Chicago. He said several inmates claimed abuse by Zuley.
In addition, he revealed additional details of Zuley's participation as a US Navy Reserve lieutenant from late 2002 to 2004 in the interrogation and torture of Guantanamo captive
Mohamedou Ould Slahi
Mohamedou Ould Slahi (; born December 21, 1970) is a Mauritanian engineer who was detained at Guantánamo Bay detention camp without charge from 2002 until his release on October 17, 2016.
Slahi traveled to Afghanistan in December 1990 "to supp ...
. Slahi was among several men classified by the US as high-value detainees, for whom the Secretary of Defense authorized
enhanced interrogation techniques
"Enhanced interrogation techniques" or "enhanced interrogation" was a program of systematic torture of detainees by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and various components of the U.S. Armed Forces at ...
, since characterized as torture.
Jason Meisner, writing in the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
,'' reported that ''The Guardian'' characterized Zuley's use of torture as "brutal and ineffective".
Memos Zuley wrote, quoted in the
Senate Intelligence Committee's report on the CIA's use of torture, described him using ''"stress positions"''—the shackling of interrogation subjects in painful postures for extended periods of time. Zuley currently faces lawsuits in Chicago for using these techniques against American civilians.
Homan Square
''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' reported in February 2015 that the Chicago Police Department "operates an off-the-books interrogation compound, rendering Americans unable to be found by family or attorneys while locked inside what lawyers say is the domestic equivalent of a CIA
black site." ''The Guardian'' added that the facility, the
Homan Square Police Warehouse at 1011 S. Homan Ave in
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
(), "has long been the scene of secretive work by special police units." ''The Guardian'' said that interviews with local attorneys and one protester "describe operations that deny access to basic constitutional rights ... The secretive warehouse ... trains its focus on Americans, most often poor, black and brown ... Witnesses, suspects or other Chicagoans who end up inside do not appear to have a public, searchable record entered into a database indicating where they are, as happens when someone is booked at a precinct. Lawyers and relatives insist there is no way of finding their whereabouts. Those lawyers who have attempted to gain access to Homan Square are most often turned away, even as their clients remain in custody inside."
[ Ackerman, Spencer (February 2015)]
The disappeared: Chicago police detain Americans at abuse-laden 'black site'
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''
After ''The Guardian'' published the story, the Chicago Police provided a statement saying, without specifics, that there is nothing improper taking place at what it called the "sensitive" location, home to undercover units. The statement said "CPD
hicago Police Departmentabides by all laws, rules and guidelines pertaining to any interviews of suspects or witnesses, at Homan Square or any other CPD facility. If lawyers have a client detained at Homan Square, just like any other facility, they are allowed to speak to and visit them." ''The Guardian'' said several attorneys and one Homan Square arrestee have denied this. The CPD statement continued by saying "There are always records of anyone who is arrested by CPD, and this is not any different at Homan Square." ''The Guardian'' said the Chicago Police statement did not address how long after an arrest or detention those records are generated or their availability to the public, and that a department spokesperson did not respond to a detailed request for clarification.
In October 2015, ''The Guardian'' reported a number of statistics they were able to uncover about the operation of the Homan Square site.
They said that between August 2004 and June 2015, more than 7,000 people had been detained there (more than 6,000 of whom were black, a rate more than twice that of the city's population). Only 68 of those were given access to an attorney, there were no known instances in which the public was notified about a detention while the person was being held there, and those held there were not given access to telephones.
Despite police directives to rapidly complete the booking process for detainees, there was no booking facility at the site and no such records had been generated there, and some detainees had been kept there for days. The statistics included only people who were eventually charged with a crime, as the police did not release information about those held there without being charged, saying it would be too difficult to provide that information.
David Gaeger, an attorney who had represented clients taken to the facility, said "Try finding a phone number for Homan to see if anyone's there. You can't, ever. If you're laboring under the assumption that your client's at Homan, there really isn't much you can do as a lawyer. You're shut out. It's guarded like a military installation." and "That place was and is scary. There's nothing about it that resembles a police station."
Laquan McDonald
On October 20, 2014, 17-year-old
Laquan McDonald was fatally shot by Officer Jason Van Dyke.
The murder sparked protests and calls for the mayor to resign.
A video was released which revealed McDonald walking down a street, carrying a knife.
McDonald was walking parallel to the two police cars when he was shot 16 times.
A criminal complaint filed in Cook County Circuit Court revealed that Van Dyke was the only officer to shoot,
and the complaint also said that McDonald was on
PCP at the time of his death.
Protesters were frustrated that the video took 13 months to be released.
A freelance journalist sued to have the footage released as it was a public record,
and a judge found in the reporter's favor and the video became public in November 2015.
Van Dyke was charged with six counts of first-degree murder and one count of official misconduct.
He remained on desk duty after the shooting.
Van Dyke had a history of complaints in his career but was cleared in a majority of the cases.
He pleaded not guilty on December 29, 2015, to the charges against him.
After his arraignment, his attorney, Daniel Herbert, said that he would be looking for evidence to clear his client's name.
On October 5, 2018, Van Dyke was found guilty of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, but was found not guilty of official misconduct.
On January 18, 2019, Van Dyke was sentenced to 6.75 years in prison for the second-degree murder conviction alone.
Raiding wrong addresses
Due to errors or acting on bad or faulty tips without double-checking information, Chicago police have raided incorrect addresses with
no-knock warrant
In the United States, a no-knock warrant is a warrant issued by a judge that allows law enforcement to enter a property without immediate prior notification of the residents, such as by knocking or ringing a doorbell. In most cases, law enforcemen ...
s more than once in recent years. This has adversely affected goodwill towards officers in the community and costs the city in legal settlements. While new search warrant policies have been implemented by the CPD, including mandatory pre-checks and additional supervisors, one victim said she still believes the police department has a long way to go, and is "traumatizing Black Chicagoans in the process".
Fallen officers
On December 5, 1853, James Quinn became the first Chicago police officer killed while on duty. 8 officers were killed and 59 were wounded during the
Haymarket affair
The Haymarket affair, also known as the Haymarket massacre, the Haymarket riot, the Haymarket Square riot, or the Haymarket Incident, was the aftermath of a bombing that took place at a labor demonstration on May 4, 1886 at Haymarket Square (C ...
. Dorelle C. Brandon was killed on January 25, 1984, the first female officer to die on duty.
Since 1853, the Chicago Police Department has lost 571 officers in the line of duty. 40% of these deaths occurred between 1920 and 1939. By custom, the department retires the stars of fallen officers and mounts them in a display case at Police Headquarters.
Appearances in popular culture
* The 1957–1960 television series ''
M Squad'' centered on a squad of Chicago Police detectives. The episode "The Jumper" featured an officer taking bribes. It was reportedly this depiction that prompted then-Mayor
Richard J. Daley to thereafter discourage motion picture and television location filming in the city for the rest of his administration and its aftermath.
John Landis
John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for directing comedy films such as ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), ''Animal House, National Lampoon's Animal House'' (1978), The Blues Brothers (f ...
' successful 1980 musical comedy motion picture ''
The Blues Brothers
The Blues Brothers (formally, The Fabulous Blues Brothers’ Show Band and Revue) are an American blues and soul music, soul revue band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, who met and began collaborating as original cast ...
'' (see more below) marked the reversal of that policy by Mayor
Jane Byrne
Jane Margaret Byrne (née Burke; May 24, 1933November 14, 2014) was an American politician who served as the 50th mayor of Chicago from April 16, 1979, until April 29, 1983. Prior to her tenure as mayor, Byrne served as Chicago's commissioner of ...
.
* Two notable exceptions to Daley's ban were made for films released in 1975. In ''
Brannigan'',
John Wayne
Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...
portrays Chicago Police Lieutenant Jim Brannigan. ''
Cooley High'' (set in 1964) was filmed entirely in Chicago and features a car chase through
Navy Pier
Navy Pier is a pier on the shoreline of Lake Michigan, located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side, Chicago, Near North Side community area in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Navy Pier encompasses over of shops, restaura ...
's warehouse buildings (since demolished), in which the pursuing Chicago police are repeatedly outmaneuvered by the joyriding teens.
* The Chicago Police Department and
Illinois State Police
The Illinois State Police (ISP) is the state police agency of the U.S. state of Illinois. The Illinois State Police is responsible for traffic safety on more than 300,000 miles of total roadway, including 2,185 miles of interstate highways and ...
are featured in the climactic car chase in 1980's ''
The Blues Brothers
The Blues Brothers (formally, The Fabulous Blues Brothers’ Show Band and Revue) are an American blues and soul music, soul revue band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, who met and began collaborating as original cast ...
'' in which a Chicago Police dispatcher matter-of-factly advises responding officers that "The use of unnecessary violence in the apprehension of the Blues Brothers has been approved." Reportedly in response to their portrayal in ''The Blues Brothers'', the Chicago Police Department banned the use of the "Chicago Police" name and insignia in films until the early 2000s, resulting in several films and television shows replacing "Chicago Police" with "Metro Police" and other faux names, even if the films received technical assistance from the department, such as ''
The Fugitive'' and ''
The Negotiator''.
* The television series ''
Hill Street Blues
''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the Metropolitan Police Department staff ...
'' (1981–1987) never explicitly stated the name of the city in which it was set, although many exterior views (lacking the principal actors) were filmed in Chicago and used for establishing and transition shots.
* The television series ''
Crime Story'' (1986–1988) had most of its first season set in Chicago in 1963. The opening credits feature clips including vehicles and passenger aircraft from that era.
* In the 1988 movie ''
Child's Play'', Chicago police officer Mark Norris (played by
Chris Sarandon
Christopher Sarandon (; born July 24, 1942) is an American actor. He is well known for playing Jerry Dandrige in '' Fright Night'' (1985), Prince Humperdinck in '' The Princess Bride'' (1987), Detective Mike Norris in '' Child's Play'' (1988), a ...
) and his colleague chase criminals Charles Lee Ray and Frank. In other scenes, there are various other CPD officers.
*
Robert De Niro
Robert Anthony De Niro ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and film producer. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of List of awards and ...
portrays a former Chicago police officer turned bounty hunter in the 1988 film ''
Midnight Run
''Midnight Run'' is a 1988 American action comedy film directed by Martin Brest from a screenplay by George Gallo. It stars Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin, Yaphet Kotto, John Ashton (actor), John Ashton, Dennis Farina and Joe Pantoliano. In the ...
''. Numerous references are made to the CPD as well as corruption within the department. There are also a number of scenes directly involving the CPD.
* The Chicago Police Department played a major role in 1993's ''
The Fugitive'', showing them in a semi-brutal fashion after Kimble is incorrectly believed to have killed an on-duty police officer. The use of actual Chicago Police Department vehicles and uniforms is extensive and can be seen throughout the film. CPD can be seen again in its 1998 sequel,
U.S. Marshals.
* In the 1998 film ''
The Negotiator'', the Chicago Police played a major role within the film. The real Chicago Police Department provided technical support for the movie's SWAT teams. The actors' shoulder sleeve insignia were similar to the Chicago Police Department's octagonal patches, albeit with "Chicago" replaced with "Metropolitan."
* Chicago police officers are routinely depicted on the television series ''
ER''.
* The Chicago police are portrayed in the 2011
Fox Network
Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known as Fox; stylized in all caps) is an American commercial broadcast television network serving as the flagship property of Fox Corporation and operated through Fox Entertainment. Fox is based at Fo ...
series ''
The Chicago Code
''The Chicago Code'' is an American crime drama television series created by Shawn Ryan that aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox in the United States. The series was filmed in Chicago, Illinois, originally airing from February 7 to May 23, 20 ...
''. Unlike most depictions of Chicago police, the actors' uniforms and insignia appear to be identical to their real-world counterparts, with the series being filmed on-location in the city.
* In ''
The Lincoln Lawyer'', Mickey Haller tells Detective Lankford that Frank Levin had been ex-Chicago PD to encourage him to investigate Levin's murder.
* The ''
Terra Nova'' character Jim Shannon said he was a detective with the department's
narcotics
The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "I make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...
squad.
* The ''
Chicago P.D.'' TV series is set inside the Chicago Police department.
*The Chicago police appear in Square Enix's title ''
Hitman: Absolution'', where they hunt the player.
* The Chicago Police Department is featured in
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...
's action-thriller video-game, ''
Watch Dogs
''Watch Dogs'' (stylized as ''WATCH_DOGS'') is an action-adventure video game franchise published by Ubisoft, and developed primarily by its Montreal and Toronto studios using the Disrupt game engine. The series' eponymous first title was rele ...
''.
* In the Netflix series
Sense8, character Will Gorski is suspended from the Chicago Police Department.
*
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
's ''
The Good Wife
''The Good Wife'' is an American legal political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in law ...
'' takes place in Chicago, and its characters frequently interact with officers of the Chicago Police Department. In the Season 6 finale of the show, protagonist
Alicia Florrick's client is detained at Homan Square, and she eventually has his admission while detained at the facility dismissed by a judge.
* ''
Mike & Molly
''Mike & Molly'' is an American television sitcom created by Mark Roberts for CBS. It aired from September 20, 2010 to May 16, 2016. The series stars Billy Gardell and Melissa McCarthy as the eponymous Mike and Molly, a couple who meet in a Ch ...
'', television comedy series (2010 to 2016), was based on an over weight couple; the lead character was a Chicago Police Officer.
Melissa McCarthy
Melissa Ann McCarthy (born August 26, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Melissa McCarthy, numerous accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Award ...
and
Billy Gardell star.
* The ''
Power Book IV: Force'' TV series is set Chicago and its characters frequently interact with a corrupt officer of the Chicago Police Department.
Notable former officers
*
Leonard Baldy, flying helicopter officer/traffic reporter for WGN
*
Edward Allen Bernero, television writer and producer (''Third Watch'', ''Criminal Minds'')
*
Jon Burge, commander/detective, Area 2 (1970s–1993); accused of torturing suspects to coerce confessions
* Alderman
Edward M. Burke (patrolman 1965–1968), longest-serving member of the Chicago City Council 1969 to 2023; past chairman of the Finance Committee; past chairman of the city council Police and Fire Committee
*
Don Cornelius, creator, producer, and former host of ''
Soul Train
''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. After airing locally on WCIU-TV in Chicago, Illinois, for a year, it aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featu ...
''
*
Willie Cochran (patrolman/sergeant 1975–2003), former alderman,
Chicago City Council
The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the Law and government of Chicago, government of the Chicago, City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 Wards of the United States, wards to serve four-year t ...
2007–2019
*
Johnny Dollar,
Chicago blues
Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but is performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of African Americans of the fi ...
guitarist, singer and songwriter
*
Dennis Farina, actor
*
Terrance W. Gainer, former
Sergeant at Arms
A serjeant-at-arms or sergeant-at-arms is an officer appointed by a deliberative body, usually a legislature, to keep order during its meetings. The word "serjeant" is derived from the Latin , which means "servant". Historically, serjeants-at-a ...
for the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
*
Jack Muller, author of ''I, Pig'' and ''Motorcycle Cop''
*
Sergio Oliva
Sergio Oliva (; July 4, 1941 – November 12, 2012), often known by his epithet 'The Myth' for his physique and performance, was a Cuban American bodybuilder and three-time Mr. Olympia winner.
Early life
Sergio Oliva was born on July 4, 1 ...
, professional bodybuilder—Mr Olympia
*
Allan Pinkerton
Allan Pinkerton (August 21, 1819Mackay (1997), p. 20; August 25 was the date of his baptism, which many sources incorrectly give as his birth date. – July 1, 1884) was a Scottish-American detective, spy, abolitionist, and cooper best known f ...
, first detective in department history; founder of both the
Pinkerton Detective Agency and the Union Intelligence Service (predecessor of the
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security tasked with conducting criminal investigations and providing protection to American political leaders, thei ...
)
*
Charles H. Ramsey, Police Commissioner, Philadelphia P.D.; former Chief of Police, Washington, D.C.
*
Renault Robinson, co-founder of the CPD's Afro-American Patrolman's League.
*
Steve Wilkos, talk show host and former head of ''
The Jerry Springer Show
''Jerry Springer'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Jerry Springer. The show ran for twenty-seven seasons from September 30, 1991, to July 26, 2018, in which it broadcast 3,891 episodes. It was taped at the NB ...
'' security team
*
Richard Zuley, Chicago detective and later Guantánamo interrogator; accused of torture
Tactics, softwares and equipment
Community policing
The Chicago Police Department does
community policing
Community policing is a philosophy and organizational strategy whereby law enforcement cooperates with community groups and citizens in producing safety and security. The theory underlying community policing is that it makes citizens more likely t ...
through the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy program. It was established in 1992 and implemented in 1993 by then-Chicago Police Superintendent Matt L. Rodriguez. The program entails increasing police presence in individual communities with a force of neighborhood-based beat officers. Beat Community Meetings are held regularly for community members and police officials to discuss potential problems and strategies.
Under CAPS, 9-10 beat officers are assigned to each of Chicago's 279 police beats. The officers patrol the same beat for over a year, allowing them to get to know community members, residents, and business owners and to become familiar with community attitudes and trends. The system also allows for those same community members to get to know their respective officers and learn to be comfortable in approaching them for help when needed.
Strategic Subject List (SSL)
The Strategic Subject List (SSL) is a list of individuals generated by computer using a customized implementation of an algorithm developed by the
Illinois Institute of Technology
The Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Illinois Tech and IIT, is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the m ...
. The SSL algorithm calculates the propensity of individuals either committing or being targeted by gun violence. Now in its fourth iteration, the SSL has become a helpful indicator of the likelihood of murder, according to former Superintendent of Police Eddie Johnson. The algorithm looks at an individual's past criminal activities whilst specifically excluding biasing variables like race, gender, ethnicity, and location, according to Illinois Institute of Technology professor Miles Wernick, and assigns scores to individuals based on criminal record, known gang affiliation, and other variables.
As of 2016, the CPD created a list of 1,400 "strategic subjects" that has proven to be reliable and helpful to the department. By the end of 2016, more than 70percent of firearm victims and 80percent of the shooters appeared on the SSL. Moreover, of the 140individuals who were arrested during a citywide gang raid performed that same year, 117 of them (83.6%) were on the list according to the CPD.
The SSL is also used by social workers and community leaders.
Equipment

Chicago police officers are required to buy their own duty equipment (except Taser x2 and Motorola radio Motorola phone). All field officers must also be qualified to carry a
Taser
Taser (stylized in all caps) is a line of handheld conducted energy devices (CED) sold by Axon Enterprise (formerly Taser International). The device fires two small barbed darts intended to puncture the skin and remain attached to the targe ...
. Some officers choose to carry a backup weapon as well, which must meet certain specifications and requires annual qualification.
The prescribed semiautomatic pistol must meet the following requirements:
* Be manufactured by
Beretta
Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta (; "Pietro Beretta Weapons Factory") is a privately held Italian firearms manufacturing company operating in several countries. Its firearms are used worldwide for various civilian, law enforcement, and military p ...
,
SIG,
Glock
Glock (; stylized as GLOCK) is a brand of polymer- framed, short-recoil-operated, striker-fired, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H.
The firearm entered Austrian military an ...
,
Ruger
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc., better known by the shortened name Ruger, is an American firearm manufacturing company based in Southport, Connecticut, with production facilities also in Newport, New Hampshire; Mayodan, North Carolina; and ...
,
Smith & Wesson
Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American Firearms manufacturer, firearm manufacturer headquartered in Maryville, Tennessee, United States.
Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith (inventor), Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the ...
, or
Springfield Armory
The Springfield Armory, more formally known as the United States Armory and Arsenal at Springfield located in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, was the primary center for the manufacture of United States military firearms from 1777 until ...
.
* Be chambered in
9mm,
.40 S&W, or
.45 ACP.
* Be
double-action only
A trigger is a mechanism that actuates the function of a ranged weapon such as a firearm, airgun, crossbow, or speargun. The word may also be used to describe a switch that initiates the operation of other non-shooting devices such as a tr ...
, hammer or striker-fired.
Officers who were hired on or before 1 December 1991 may keep their older
double-action/single-action pistols, as well as their 4" barrel Smith & Wesson, Ruger or
Colt revolvers in
.38 Special or
.357 Magnum. Recruits hired on or after 28 August 2015 must choose from Springfield Armory, Smith & Wesson, or Glock striker-fired 9mm pistols. Officers hired before 19 May 2008 may continue to use the Double Action Only (DAO) Beretta, Ruger, SIG Sauer, and S&W pistols for duty use.
It was reported in June 2018 that the agency would allow the authorization of the
SIG Sauer P320
The SIG Sauer P320 is a modular semi-automatic pistol made by SIG Sauer, Inc., SIG Sauer's American branch.
History
The P320 chambered in 9×19mm Parabellum was introduced in the North American market on 15 January 2014, followed by the .45 A ...
as another service pistol to be chosen by officers to carry. Shortly after the P320 appeared on the authorized firearms list.
Patrol vehicles contain long gun racks.
Remington 870
The Remington Model 870 is a pump-action shotgun manufactured by Remington Arms Company, LLC. It is widely used by the public for shooting sports, hunting and self-defense, as well as by law enforcement and military organizations worldwide.
De ...
12-gauge shotgun
The gauge (in American English or more commonly referred to as bore in British English) of a firearm is a unit of measurement used to express the inner diameter (bore diameter) and other necessary parameters to define in general a smoothbore barre ...
s are available in the event that additional firepower is needed. Officers must complete five days of training to carry an
AR-15 type rifle and have the option to purchase their own or use a department-provided one.
Ranks
See also
*
Chicago Police Accountability Task Force
The Chicago Police Accountability Task Force (CPATF) was a task force created to "review the system of accountability, oversight and training that is currently in place for Chicago's police officers" in 2015. It was announced via press release o ...
*
Citizen Law Enforcement Analysis and Reporting
*
Crime in Chicago
Crime in Chicago has been tracked by the Chicago Police Department's Bureau of Records since the beginning of the 20th century.
The city's overall crime rate, especially the violent crime rate, is higher than the US average. Gangs in Chicago ha ...
*
Cook County Sheriff's Office
*
List of law enforcement agencies in Illinois
References
Works cited
*
*
Further reading
* Basu, Tanya (February 2015)
"Behind 'the Disappeared' of Chicago's Homan Square" ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 185 ...
''.
* Bingham, Dennis, and Schultz, Russell A. (2005). ''A Proud Tradition: A Pictorial History of the Chicago Police Department''. Chicago: Chicago Police Department.
*
Burke, Edward M., and O'Gorman, Thomas J. (2006). ''End of Watch: Chicago Police Killed in the Line of Duty, 1853–2006''. Chicago: Chicago's Books Press.
* Conroy, John (2000).
Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary People: The Dynamics of Torture'. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. . Covers the Burge case.
* Flinn, John Joseph (1887)
''History of the Chicago Police from the Settlement of the Community to the Present Time'' Chicago: Police Book Fund.
* Mitrani, Samuel (2014). ''The Rise of the Chicago Police Department: Class and Conflict, 1850–1894''. Champaign: University of Illinois Press.
External links
*
Homan Squareseries of reports by ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' on controversial Chicago Police Department facility
"92 deaths, 2,623 bullets: Tracking every Chicago police shooting over 6 years" ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'', 2016
{{Authority control
1835 establishments in Illinois
Articles containing video clips
Crime in Chicago
Municipal police departments of Illinois
ga:Cearnóg Homan