Chicago Mayor Lightfoot On Video Showing Officers Dragging Women Out Of Vehicle: 'We Will Investigate'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said police misconduct will not be tolerated.
Lightfoot's comments come days after two women were seen dragged out of their car by Chicago Police. Family members, supporters and activists call for justice and accountability from CPD.
They are demanding answers. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) is investigating the incident, which was caught on camera at the Brickyard Mall on Sunday.
"They will be aggressively investigated and Sydney (Roberts, head of COPA) and her team are going to call balls and strikes, no curve balls. They're going to follow the facts and they're going to make the necessary recommendations, whatever the facts dictate, we will investigate every case and get to the bottom of every case. And we will not spare any resource to do so," Lightfoot said.
Roberts said because the incident is currently under investigation, COPA cannot comment on what happened.
"I don't think it's appropriate for us when there's an ongoing investigation to really comment. But I'm confident that COPA is doing everything you can to identify the officers, and then we'll make an appropriate recommendation," Lightfoot said.
The mayor wouldn't say whether the officers in the video should still be on the street.
"I don't want to get ahead and I'm not the head of COPA. I'm the mayor and I want COPA to be doing its job, but doing it independently."
Roberts said since Friday, COPA has received 258 complaints regarding police misconduct.
"Most of these complaints have been related to the protest and have included allegations of excessive force, denial of counsel, improper search and seizure, and verbal abuse, all of which rest squarely within COPA's jurisdiction," Roberts said.
"We have also refer to host of complaint to Chicago's bureau of Internal Affairs, alleging failure to activate body worn camera. The absence of concealment of name tags unprofessional conduct and a host of other operational violations and specific to the videos that we have witnessed that have been circulated on social media and the news outlets. I want to assure you that we are investigating."
CPD Superintendent David Brown added that complaints will be looked into.
"There is no contradiction in supporting officers and holding officers accountable. None. God help us. God help us, if we can't find the courage to publicly condemn police misconduct and excessive force," Brown said. "We will thoroughly thoroughly investigate any and all complaints of misconduct. And we will also hold officers accountable who are complicit to misconduct."
