CHICAGO (AP) – Unions representing Chicago police officers are fighting for the destruction of tens of thousands of documents from disciplinary files dating back several decades, just as activists and community leaders are demanding more access and transparency from a department under intense scrutiny after several controversial police shootings.
The two unions’ contracts with the city stipulate that the records, including complaints alleging misconduct, be destroyed after five years in most cases if no litigation is ongoing. The city says it has had to keep the files because of federal court orders issued in litigation going back to the 1990s. But the unions say they only recently discovered they still existed when the city informed them it would release all documents as part of a massive public records request by several newspapers.
A judge who has kept the records in limbo for more than a year said at a hearing Friday that he would keep a union-requested injunction in place pending the outcome of more negotiations between the city and the unions. Arbitrators have sided with the unions but in a decision this week gave the sides until March 15 to work out a system for determining which of the documents are subject to destruction.
Cook County Circuit Judge Peter Flynn said Friday that he will eventually have to consider whether the state’s Freedom of Information Act requires the city to release material it shouldn’t have had in the first place.
Those pushing for changes to the police force say the public has a right to see it all, especially in light of recent cases like the 2014 shooting death of Laquan McDonald. A white officer shot the black teenager 16 times while responding to a call about someone breaking in to cars. Video of the shooting was released on a judge’s order in November and showed McDonald carrying a knife but walking away from officers. It contradicted accounts of officers who said McDonald lunged at officers.