CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- We know more now about what the Chicago Inspector General’s Office found with how police mishandled the discovery of former police superintendent Eddie Johnson asleep at the wheel last year.
The Inspector General had recommended a supervising lieutenant be fired for recording body cam video of the incident involving Eddie Johnson onto a cell phone and texting it to the district commander.
Supt. David Brown rejected the recommendation and issued a 21-day suspension to the lieutenant.
The Inspector General also found that of the six officers and one sergeant on the scene with now-former Supt. Johnson, not one of them thought he was unfit to drive his city-owned SUV despite Johnson having just consumed about 10 alcoholic drinks. The IG acknowledges there was no way the officers could have known how many drinks Johnson had, but said they did not even try "routine investigative steps" to determine whether he was impaired.
Still, the Inspector General's quarterly report indicates that at least a couple of them must have suspected Johnson was unfit to drive, because the officers followed Johnson until he arrived home.
The IG also said that of those seven sworn police at the scene, only one turned on a body camera.
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The initial responding officers were probationary officers with less than three years service between them. Neither had ever dealt with a DUI situation in the field.
The incident happened on 34th and Aberdeen in the early morning hours of October 17, 2019.
Besides recommending the lieutenant being fired, the IG recommended the other officers, sergeant, and district commander be disciplined in an appropriate way. 9th District Cmdr. Don Jerome was given a 28-day suspension for not reporting the lieutenant's policy violation. Including the lieutenant, the other officers and sergeant were given suspensions ranging from one day to 21 days.
The IG also recommended better training on investigating suspected DUI incidents and on proper use of body-worn cameras.