Don’t give COPA power to alter reports, watchdog group argues, despite furor over suspension recommendation for slain cop

The Better Government Association wants the Chicago City Council to reject a proposal that would allow the chief administrator of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability to, in some cases, redact information in some final reports before releasing them. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times file

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability’s decision to order a three-day suspension for slain Chicago Police Officer Ella French nearly torpedoed Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s appointment of Andrea Kersten to head the police oversight agency.

To avoid a repeat, Kersten worked with the city’s Law Department to craft a legislative fix. There’s only one problem, says the Better Government Association: The exemption to the Freedom of Information Act is illegal.