Officials in Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration failed to follow appropriate procedures, did not adequately communicate across departments and “did not live up to the public service mission” in their handling of a botched police raid on Anjanette Young’s home, an outside investigation by the Jones Day law firm found.
But the firm also said it found “no evidence” of “purposeful concealment” by the mayor or any city department.
The law firm released its findings Thursday, about a year after Lightfoot enlisted former federal judge Ann Claire Williams and Jones Day to lead an outside review of the raid on Young’s home and how it was handled. The findings of a parallel investigation by former inspector general Joe Ferguson have not yet been released.
Jones Day identified several broad “failures” by city officials in handling the case, including:
“Some city employees did not adequately consider Ms. Young’s dignity in the course of its actions or prioritize egregious misconduct for fast-track review.” “City employees did not always follow appropriate the procedures, or maintained flawed procedures, or lacked procedures altogether.” “City did not adequately communicate within and across departments.” “Some city employees failed to take ownership, including a sentiment of ‘that’s not my job’ or siloed behavior resulting in a scattered response.” “Some city employees did not live up to the public service mission.”
Many of the law firm’s recommendations involve updating policies, especially as it relates to compliance with the Freedom of Information Act, a state law that allows the public right to access records.
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Lightfoot’s administration notably declined to provide Young or the media copies of video from the botched raid on her home.
Supporters rally in January for justice for Anjanette Young, whose likeness is depicted on one protesters sign. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
In its recommendation, Jones Day said the city should “ensure adequate attorney oversight of FOIA responses in all departments,” develop “consistent and thorough training” for FOIA officers, create a central database for public records requests and formalize communication between the Department of Law, Chicago Police and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
It also asks the city to “emphasize the dual responsibilities of Department of Law attorneys when considering the duty to the clients they serve and protection of the public trust.”
Aldermen this week voted to settle Young’s lawsuit against the city for $2.9 million, ending a legal case that became an embarrassment for Lightfoot after her administration tried to prevent footage of the botched raid from airing.
Acting on a bad tip that a man with an illegal firearm lived in the apartment, 13 police raided Young’s home in February 2019, restraining her while she was getting ready for bed and forcing her to stand handcuffed and naked as officers searched her residence.
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Officers would testify Young was completely naked for 16 seconds before first a jacket an then a blanket were draped around her shoulders, corporation counsel Celia Meza told aldermen on Monday.
It was 10 minutes before officers allowed Young to head to her bedroom to get dressed. If the case went to trial, a jury might award her $13 million — $1 million for each officer in the apartment — or $16 million — $1 million for each second she was completely undressed, Meza told aldermen.
The situation garnered national attention in December 2020 after Lightfoot’s administration sought an extraordinary order to stop CBS-2 from broadcasting video of the raid.
It was around that time that Lightfoot commissioned the outside investigation, saying in a letter to aldermen that its mandate “will include every relevant department, including the Mayor’s office. We want a review of the procedures and processes in place that allowed this incident and subsequent actions to unfold as they did.”
Williams is a well-respected former judge. She was the first African American judge to serve on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. She was once on Democratic President Barack Obama’s shortlist for the Supreme Court, and Republican President Ronald Reagan first named her to the bench in 1985.
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Ferguson, the former city inspector general, also investigated the case and delivered a 163-page report to the Lightfoot administration, which has not committed to releasing his full findings.
City lawyers initially requested sanctions against Young for sharing footage of the episode with media, though they later backpedaled, saying they only wanted sanctions against her lawyer. Eventually they dropped the request altogether.
As the scandal unfolded, Lightfoot falsely claimed she “had no knowledge” of the matter, which occurred before she took office, and that her administration hadn’t refused to give Young video of the raid.
But the mayor soon acknowledged that members of her staff had told her about the raid via emails in November 2019, as Ch. 2 was reporting on search warrants being served at the wrong addresses. She also said she had no recollection of the emails.
In an email sent on Nov. 11, 2019, former Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Susan Lee forwarded a summary of CBS’ reporting on the case to Lightfoot and said, “Please see below for a pretty bad wrongful raid coming out tomorrow.”
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The summary said Young was handcuffed by police, and officers “allegedly left her standing for 40 minutes handcuffed and naked while all-male police officers search her apartment.” The email noted that Young had been asking for the body camera footage but hadn’t heard back from police.
Half an hour later, Lightfoot responded to the thread.
“I have a lot of questions about this one,” Lightfoot said. “Can we do a quick call about it? Is 10:00, ie 10 minutes from now possible?”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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