On July 17th the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office released their Do Not Call List made up of many CPD officers who for various reasons the office will not longer call as witnesses. While the existence of the list is an important step forward in accountability for CPD officers the list itself if very limited because it doesn’t provide any further information about the officers.

In a recent episode of our YouTube series Good & Bad Justice Journalism we detail the massive shortcomings in the media’s reporting on the release of this list. It is embedded below.

As we state in the video we do not trust the Chicago media to provide the public with the details on even the very basic facts of the CPD officers that made the list. Thus, we have filed the FOIAs detailed below to get the information the public needs.

FOIA Content

Date:   July 22, 2023

To:     Chicago Police Department

Re:     FOIA Request: Employment Status

In accordance with the Illinois Freedom of Information Act., 5 ILCS 140, I request that your office provide the following public records:

FOIA A

Please provide records sufficient to show the following information for all the current and former sworn officers of the Chicago Police Department who are listed on the Do Not Call List recently released by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (CCSAO) on July 17^th. We have provided a list of the individuals on the list that at some point worked as a sworn officer of your department in Appendix A.

1. Start date of employment
2. End date of employment
3. Reason for leaving the department
4. Rank at the time of departure
5. Assignment at time of departure
6. All complaint registry numbers associated with each individual

FOIA B

1. Records sufficient to show Your efforts to locate and produce the records requested in FOIA A above. This should include:
2. Where you searched for responsive Records and Documents.
3. Who searched for responsive Records and Documents.
4. Who was requested to produce responsive Records and Documents.
5. The identify of any Records and Documents that were located but not produced for any reason.

DEFINITIONS

“Document” and/or “Documents” means any documents or electronically stored information of any kind—including writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, sound recordings, images, and other data or data compilations—stored in any medium from which information can be obtained either directly or, if necessary, after translation by the responding party into a reasonably usable form.

“You” or “Your” means the {Public Body}, and all attorneys, employees, officers, directors, bureaus, offices, divisions or subdivisions of same.

INSTRUCTIONS

If the agency withholds any document or information pertinent to the requests made herein, please identify the document or information in as much detail as is possible, and detail in specific language why each document or piece of information is being withheld.

If any information requested herein is withheld on the basis of a claim of privilege or other protection as material prepared in anticipation of litigation or trial, then that claim shall be made expressly in a writing that describes the nature of the Documents, Communications, or Things not produced or disclosed in a manner that will enable us to assess the applicability of the privilege or protection. With regard to each claim of privilege or protection, the following information should be provided in the response or the objection:

(a) the type of Document, e.g., letter or memorandum;

(b) general subject matter of the Document;

(c) the date of the Document;

(d) such other information as is sufficient to identify the Document for a subpoena duces tecum, including, where appropriate, the author, addressee, and any other recipient of the Document, and, where not apparent, the relationship of the author, addressee, and any other recipient to each other; and

(e) the nature of the privilege or protection;

(f) if applicable, the litigation or trial of which the document was created in anticipation.

If any Document identified herein has been lost, discarded, or destroyed, each such Document should be identified as completely as possible, including as to each such Document, its date, general nature (e.g., letter, memorandum, telegram, telex, photograph, computer printout), subject matter, each author or originator, each person indicated as an addressee or copy recipient, and its former custodian(s). In addition, as to each such Document, the following information shall be supplied:

(a) date of disposal, loss, or destruction;

(b) manner of disposal, loss, or destruction;

(c) reason for disposal or destruction, or any explanation of loss;

(d) persons authorizing the disposal or destruction;

(e) persons having knowledge of the disposal, destruction, or loss; and

(f) persons who destroyed, lost, or disposed or the Document or Thing.

I look forward to hearing from you in writing within five working days, as required by the Act 5 ILCS 140(3).  Please direct all questions or responses to this FOIA request to this email address by responding to this email. I can be reached at tsiska@chicagojustice.org