Former Chief of the Police Oversight Agency Declares Police Shooting Legit
Former chief of civilian oversight has harsh criticism for the agency’s current handling of a fatal police shooting.
In an interview with Crooked City, former chief of the city’s civilian police oversight agency Scott Ando declared the March 21 shootout between Chicago Police and Dexter Reed that left Reed deceased “completely within policy and completely justified.”
A police officer was wounded after Reed pulled out a gun while inside his car and fired at the officer. Ando worked at the predecessor to COPA, called IPRA, from 2011 to 2015, serving as its chief from 2013 to 2015.
“I cannot imagine any criminal case coming out of this. The shooting is completely within policy and completely justified,” Ando said.
Ando joined in the chorus of criticism of Andrea Kersten, in the wake of Kersten’s numerous media interviews made after releasing the police body-worn camera footage last week.
“I was particularly disturbed when I saw [Kersten’s] appearance on the Stephen A. Smith podcast. I am absolutely bewildered as to why she or anyone in the mayor’s press office would think [that] was a good idea. . . . It allowed for Stephen A. Smith . . . to make ridiculous assumptions and statements that are now out there for whoever watches his podcast to take to heart, and that is not helpful to the integrity of the administrative investigation by COPA,” Ando said.
Ando also condemned Kersten’s public statements about the legitimacy of the traffic stop by the officers, an issue that has reverberated throughout the media.
“One of the things that upset me most about Kersten’s commentary on this investigation is the fact that she focused on the legitimacy of the stop for seat belt violation. To me, it doesn’t matter what the reason for the stop was. What matters is Reed’s response to it was shooting at five police officers and wounding one. Why Kersten is focusing on that is not understandable to me. . . . So what is the issue with the validity of the stop? People can be stopped. . . . It is so irrelevant to [the] actual shooting investigation, and that’s really upsetting.”
Ando offered criticism of the media, particularly WBEZ, the public radio show.
“You have people like Chip Mitchell who will slant everything against police and against [the] oversight agency as often and as much as possible,” Ando said.
Ando also observed the fact that no reporter called him for his response to the video, but that reporters did contact another former head of the city’s oversight agency, Sharon Fairley, who was the frequent target by the police union for allegations of bias in her investigations and statements about Chicago Police.
“Isn’t it funny that they went to spoke to Sharon Fairley, who was my successor, for her opinion but nobody has contacted me. And the reasons they haven’t contacted me is because they know that [what] I would say would be much more in line with Superintendent Larry Snelling and then some, and that’s not what they want to hear,” Ando said.
Finally, someone who speaks the truth. Stop all the focus about the stop itself. Focus on the fact that the bad guy shot at the police 11 times, and they responded accordingly.