A police officer doesn’t have to be a card-carrying member of a far-right extremist group to be a “bad apple” who might prey on or abuse people, particularly people of color.
But those who are identified can, and should, be weeded out — for the sake of the public first and foremost, but also for the sake of the department and the many honest, hard-working officers trying to keep their neighborhoods safe and gain the trust of skeptical communities.
The Chicago Police Department wasted no time in getting rid of officers affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan more than five decades ago, as the Sun-Times’ Tom Schuba and WBEZ’s Dan Mihalopoulos reported in their three-part investigative series “Extremism in the Ranks,” done in partnership with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project’s Kevin G. Hall.
“Membership in the Ku Klux Klan constitutes a conflict of interest with the office of Patrolman,” the police board concluded at the time.
No such quick action today, when far-right extremism of another kind is alarmingly alive and well among law enforcement nationwide.
The investigation by Schuba, Mihalopoulos and OCCRP found that over two dozen Chicago Police officers appeared on leaked membership rosters for the far-right Oath Keepers, who played a key role in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
What happened to those officers? Not much, even when those officers were involved in misconduct and racist actions. And many of the cops on the Oath Keepers’ rolls worked in what was called the Special Operations Section, now disbanded because of allegations that some officers committed robberies and one plotted a murder.
Since the publication of the investigation last week, Chicagoans are seeing more action. That includes a call, which we strongly support, for a thorough investigation by the Office of Inspector General.
But without this series and the response it has sparked, we wonder:
How long would the problem have been left to fester, creating a toxic culture within the department and putting Chicagoans at risk of abuse?
Lax about a domestic threat
Today, experts say, the nation’s biggest domestic terrorist threat comes from far-right extremist movements, including the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Three Percenters. Their ideologies, like the KKK, “are antithetical to everything that law enforcement represents — the rule of law, the legitimacy of government, and the equal protection of everyone who lives within their community,” according to a research paper published two years ago in the Journal of Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law & Society.
So far, CPD’s investigations related to these matters have been flawed, as Inspector General Deborah Witzburg has repeatedly pointed out.
Meanwhile, as one Black Chicago police officer described it, these officers have influenced and poisoned CPD: “If you were Stevie Wonder and you would come into our break room sometimes, you would think you’re in the middle of a Klan rally.”
The consequences for the public are real, sometimes serious.
South Sider Deborah Payne still cries recalling the dismissive and insulting response she got after asking Chicago Police Sgt. Michael Nowacki for donations for disadvantaged families. Brandon Forbish remains triggered by white people because of the racial slurs he recalls hearing from Officer John Nicezyporuk after a traffic incident.
And when Jyran Mitchell was roughed up by Illinois State Police Trooper Matthew Dumais and another officer, the physical damage kept him from defending his winning state track titles and nearly thwarted his college football career.
All three officers have been members of the Oath Keepers.
While the far-right antigovernment group officially prohibits discrimination, there is a “direct correlation to being a member of the Oath Keepers and allegations of racist conduct,” said Jeff Tischauser, a Chicago-based senior researcher with the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Taking action
Some of the 27 current and former Chicago police officers whose names appeared in leaked membership records said they didn’t know what they were getting into when they joined years ago, which is plausible. Some now renounce the group.
But no officer can now feign ignorance of the group’s ideology.
Any Chicago cops linked to far-right groups who remain on active duty must be investigated and held accountable. The same holds true for officers from other law enforcement agencies.
State police officials took the right approach by announcing last week that questions were added to job applications to screen aspiring troopers who have been involved in anti-government groups.
The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability is working with CPD to broaden a policy that bars officers from joining “criminal organizations,” specifically gangs, to include groups that “seek to overthrow, destroy, or alter the form of government of the United States by unconstitutional means.”
Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling vowed to root out far-right extremists.
Those are good first steps, but we hope it doesn’t end there. The follow-up cannot be half-hearted or short-lived.
Extreme right-wing groups can tarnish the “perceived legitimacy” of a police department, as the study that appeared in the CCJLS states, leading to “poor and unequal policing of a community” and “purposeful undermining of the core functions of the department from within.”
Chicago cannot afford either scenario.
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