Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability has opened an investigation into allegations that Chicago police officers engaged in sexual misconduct with migrants, including at least one who was under 18 years old.
Andrea Kersten, COPA’s chief administrator, said her office has not identified any migrants claiming to be victims of sexual assault or any form of sexual misconduct by police officers. But she said the update was necessary given the “unprecedented amount of media attention and public scrutiny” the allegations had received thus far. COPA is an independent, civilian agency that conducts administrative investigations into certain allegations of police misconduct.
The investigation was sparked on July 6, she said, when her office received information from city employees alleging sexual misconduct involving an officer assigned to the Chicago Police Department’s 10th District.
“The allegation identified a specific officer, accused him of sexual contact with an unidentified, underage, female migrant, and indicated that several other unidentified officers from the 10th District may have also been engaged in similar misconduct,” Kersten said at a Tuesday news conference.
Chicago facing an influx of immigrants
Chicago is among multiple U.S. metro areas challenged by an influx of hundreds of immigrants from the southern border, including many bused to those cities from Texas beginning in the spring. About 11,000 have arrived in Chicago since August 2022, according to Cristina Pacione-Zayas, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s deputy chief of staff, and some families have found shelter in the lobbies of police stations.
COPA’s special victims unit, she said, contacted the Chicago Police Department’s bureau of internal affairs to see whether they were investigating or aware of the allegations. While the source of the initial allegation remains unknown, “the information appeared to be circulating” among department employees as well as among staff of the city’s office of emergency management and communication.
Given the severity of the allegations, Kersten said her office is allocating “significant resources” to the investigation, including a dozen investigators, many with expertise in sexual misconduct investigations and/or who are fluent in Spanish.
The investigation thus far has uncovered “a small number” of additional complaints involving migrants, she said, including one more allegation of unidentified officers engaging in sexual misconduct involving an unknown migrant in the department’s 19th District. As with the 10th District allegations, Kersten said, COPA is working to substantiate whether the new allegations are founded.
“When an allegation like this takes hold of the public interest, transparency requires us to have this open conversation,” she said.
In addition to working with the aforementioned agencies, COPA is is working with Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services as well as migrant community advocates and aid providers, canvassing migrant shelters, reaching out to community members in person and through agencies with direct community contact.
Investigation proceeding with care
While COPA cannot enforce any disciplinary action, Kersten said, it can make policy recommendations to the Chicago Police Department should it identify gaps in policy or training, or structures that could be put in place to prevent similar occurrences from happening in the future.
Kersten noted that sexual misconduct investigations can be sensitive and complex.
“There can be profound and sometimes impenetrable barriers which prevent survivors of sexual misconduct from reporting their experiences or participating in our systems of justice,” she said. “These barriers are often magnified when an act of sexual misconduct is perpetrated by a person in a position of trust, such as a police officer.”
Contributing: The Associated Press