Chicago IG: “Confusion and Lack of Coordination” in Response to Riots

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The Chicago Tribune reports:

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago police Superintendent David Brown led a response to protests and looting last spring plagued by “confusion and lack of coordination” that risked the safety of both police and citizens, the city’s watchdog found in a report released Thursday.

Inspector General Joseph Ferguson’s lengthy findings listed a litany of shortcomings and inconsistencies at the Chicago Police Department’s command level that manifested themselves in chaos on the street.

Police brass lacked plans for mass arrests, leading to people facing charges that were either too serious or too light, the report states. One sergeant said his cops stopped making looting arrests because it was taking too long for transport vehicles to arrive.

Officers were often unclear on who was in charge or what they were supposed to do. Scattered direction led to “strategic and tactical incoherence,” according to the report, where early in the protests police generally did not make arrests when people damaged property but the next day were told to crack down on vandals.