🚔 BEHIND CLOSED DOORS? ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT TAKES UP SECRET CPD DISCIPLINE FIGHT

CHICAGO — Should Chicago residents be allowed to see what happens when a police officer is accused of serious misconduct?

Or should some of the biggest disciplinary cases involving Chicago cops be handled behind closed doors?

That's now in the hands of the Illinois Supreme Court.

The state's highest court heard arguments Thursday in a years-long battle between the City of Chicago and Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 over how officers facing lengthy suspensions or termination should have their cases decided.

And this isn't about somebody being written up for coming to work late.

We're talking about allegations serious enough that an officer could potentially lose their job or be suspended for at least a year.

For decades, those major cases have gone before the Chicago Police Board, where proceedings are open to the public.

But the police union argues officers should have the option of taking those cases to an independent arbitrator instead.

And here's where everybody started fighting:

Should those arbitration hearings be PRIVATE?

The FOP says Chicago police officers should have the same arbitration rights available to other unionized municipal employees.

The city argues serious police misconduct is different because police officers exercise enormous public authority, and Chicago residents have a legitimate interest in seeing how allegations against them are handled.

Basically:

The union says, employee rights.

The city says, public accountability.

And now seven Illinois Supreme Court justices have to sort it out.

The legal fight has already created another problem.

Chicago's serious police disciplinary system has essentially been stuck in traffic for more than two years.

Dozens of cases are waiting for resolution while everybody argues over where and how the hearings should happen.

Among those cases are officers facing termination or lengthy suspensions over allegations involving excessive force and fatal police encounters.

So while the lawyers have been fighting about the room where the hearing should happen...

THE HEARINGS HAVEN'T BEEN HAPPENING.

Now that's a Chicago situation if I've ever heard one.

We can't decide whether to open or close the door because we're too busy arguing in the hallway.

😐

An Illinois appellate court previously ruled that officers could choose arbitration, but said hearings involving serious misconduct must remain open to the public.

The FOP appealed that decision.

That's how everybody ended up in front of the Illinois Supreme Court Thursday.

There is also another issue before the court: whether officers facing these serious disciplinary proceedings should continue receiving their salaries while their cases are pending.

The Supreme Court did not announce a decision Thursday.

The justices took the case under consideration, and a ruling could come before the end of the year.

Whatever they decide could reshape how Chicago handles its most serious police misconduct cases for years to come.

Because there's a BIG difference between deciding whether somebody gets fired...

and deciding whether the public gets to WATCH you decide whether somebody gets fired.

And when that somebody carries a badge, a gun and the authority of the City of Chicago?

Yeah.

People are paying attention.

Chicago is Home. The World Is Welcome.

It Hits Different. Every Time. BOOM!