As DNC looms, so do concerns over the Chicago Police Department's response to protests
Thousands of Chicago police officers squared off with screaming protesters who lobbed projectiles as smoke forced the beleaguered cops to communicate with hand signs.
But that was just the training they went through leading up to next month's Democratic National Convention, with actors posing as demonstrators inside McCormick Place.
Rank-and-file officers say the recent live exercises have them ready for any unruly crowds outside the convention sites. Yet the Chicago Police Department’s troubled history continues to loom over those preparations.
The department got a black eye over how it dealt with protests following the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. And the images of cops beating demonstrators with batons during the Democratic convention in 1968 are still seared into the national consciousness.
Police Supt. Larry Snelling insists CPD has learned from past mistakes and says he’s hoping for the best — while preparing for the worst.
“We will respond to protect people’s rights. We will respond to protect the city,” Snelling told reporters on July 15. “And we just want to make sure that we keep it as peaceful as we possibly can.”
‘Branding protesters as criminals’
In the lead-up to the convention, the city has faced court challenges from organizations looking to have their voices heard as the eyes of the world turn to Chicago. One federal lawsuit involves groups calling for an end to the assault Israel launched in Palestine after being attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7.
The groups are fighting to protest within “sight and sound” of the United Center, where party delegates will gather. But organizers have said they’ll still take to the streets if they aren’t granted permission.
In a July 12 court filing, the groups cited a news article estimating that as many as 100,000 protesters could descend on Chicago for the convention, although it’s unclear how many will actually show up.
Reports detailing the last two in-person Democratic conventions show that similar estimates were overblown. At the Republican Convention last month in Milwaukee, demonstrations were infrequent and remained calm.
In recent months, pro-Palestinian protesters have been highly visible across Chicago. While the protests have remained peaceful, police have been deployed to arrest dozens of demonstrators in some cases.
Meanwhile, a new mass arrest policy developed ahead of the convention has faced stiff criticism from a coalition of community groups that serve as a check on the city’s court-ordered reform efforts.
In March, the coalition warned an early version of the policy “eviscerates protections” that are otherwise granted to protesters. After it was overhauled during private settlement talks, those same groups continued to voice “serious concerns” in a court filing in June.
They argued the revised policy doesn’t sufficiently restrict the use of pepper spray, and it fails to draw a line between crowds protected under the First Amendment and those engaged in illegal activity, like looting.
“CPD is going into this kind of branding protesters as criminals,” said Alexandra Block, an attorney with the ACLU of Illinois who represents the coalition. “And that sets up the wrong mindset.”
Block said CPD failed to engage with groups seeking protest permits and seemingly viewed the new policy as “a done deal” without getting adequate input from the community members and the coalition. “It feels very high-handed,” she said.
Training was ‘scary and nerve wracking’
Block said training for the convention was apparently “behind schedule” and wasn’t updated to reflect the policy changes. But a police supervisor told the Sun-Times that he and his officers got a lot out of the dramatic simulations staged at McCormick Place.
Dozens of people posed as protesters, throwing things at the supervisor and a group of tactical officers as noise blared from speakers and smoke machines made it hard to communicate. “It is scary and nerve wracking, but now we are prepared,” the supervisor said.
He said undercover officers will work the crowds this year, as they’ve done during other large demonstrations. He worked undercover during the 2012 NATO Summit, a meeting of world leaders that the police brass was credited for handling well.
The supervisor said officers are already accustomed to dealing with angry, confrontational crowds because they’ve worked during this year’s pro-Palestine marches in downtown Chicago. He thinks the same groups will be energized during the convention.
“I have a feeling they will come out in big numbers,” the supervisor said.
Some officers have already faced complaints over their handling — and even involvement — in the recent protests.
But Supt. Snelling has credited the police response, insisting that cops have “handled themselves very well” and “limited clashes with these protesters.” He has said that training ahead of the convention was built around lessons learned from the disastrous response to protests in the summer of 2020.
The city’s Office of the Inspector General found that cops were “outflanked, under-equipped and unprepared to respond to the scale of the protests and unrest” that followed George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis.
Oversight officials brace for misconduct complaints
Those demonstrations led to a deluge of complaints against officers, some of which were still being investigated.
Andrea Kersten, chief administrator of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, said the oversight agency was receiving hundreds of complaints some days — close to the number of complaints that are typically received over a month or longer.
COPA is charged with vetting misconduct complaints and referring some to the police department's Bureau of Internal Affairs. The oversight agency investigates allegations of officers using excessive force and being verbally abusive, while BIA handles alleged operational violations, like cops covering their name plates and badges.
A 15-person team will manage the intake process, but more staff is available to help if there’s an “influx” of complaints, Kersten said. COPA will also be monitoring social media for videos and other information that could be used to open an investigation.
During last month’s Republican National Convention, a group of assisting officers from Columbus, Ohio, fatally shot a man blocks from the convention site.
Given that outside law enforcement agencies will also be traveling to Chicago to work the Democratic convention, Kersten said it will be important to distinguish whether a CPD officer or someone from another jurisdiction is accused of misconduct.
“That will be a unique wrinkle that we did not have in the 2020 protests,” she noted.
Secret Service under scrutiny ahead of DNC
The convention comes at a fraught and unprecedented time for the country.
President Joe Biden dropped out of the race on July 21, caving to pressure from allies concerned about his age and fitness. Just over a week earlier, his Republican rival Donald Trump was wounded by a sniper’s bullet as he spoke at a rally in Pennsylvania.
The U.S. Secret Service, responsible for securing the Democratic convention sites, has been castigated for allowing the would-be assassin to scale a roof and fire at the former president with a rifle. On July 23, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle stepped down.
Cheatle, who was born in Hinsdale and raised downstate, said she was resigning to avoid being a distraction from the agency’s mission. “This incident does not define us,” she wrote in a resignation letter to staff members.
It’s unclear how her abrupt departure may affect impact planning and preparedness for the convention.
Police spokespeople wouldn’t make Snelling available for an interview and didn’t respond to questions.