Chicago watchdog sends Lightfoot his report on the city’s handling of the botched police raid of Anjanette Young’s home

The inspector general’s office says its investigation into the raid’s aftermath is complete, but may not be publicly released for months.

Lightfoot
Mayor Lori Lightfoot attends City Council Meeting at City Hall on June 12, 2019. Manuel Martinez / WBEZ
Lightfoot
Mayor Lori Lightfoot attends City Council Meeting at City Hall on June 12, 2019. Manuel Martinez / WBEZ

Chicago watchdog sends Lightfoot his report on the city’s handling of the botched police raid of Anjanette Young’s home

The inspector general’s office says its investigation into the raid’s aftermath is complete, but may not be publicly released for months.

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Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson’s office on Saturday said it has submitted to Mayor Lori Lightfoot its highly anticipated report on the city’s handling of a botched police raid on social worker Anjanette Young’s home.

Male officers executing a search warrant burst into Young’s West Side home in 2019. Police body camera video showed her repeatedly telling them they had the wrong house. She had to stand naked in handcuffs for nearly 10 minutes before the officers allowed her to get dressed, city investigators found.

A national uproar about the raid and city efforts to downplay it led to the removal of officials including the city’s top lawyer, Corporation Counsel Mark Flessner.

Topics of the inspector general’s probe included city efforts to withhold the video. In February, a lawsuit brought by Young in Cook County Circuit Court alleged a cover-up involving Lightfoot, which she has denied.

Last December, the city unsuccessfully sought a federal judge’s order to stop CBS 2 Chicago from airing the footage.

Civilian Office of Police Accountability chief Sydney Roberts resigned in May amid criticism from Lightfoot that the agency had taken “18 months to move forward on an investigation regarding Anjanette Young.”

Ferguson’s office said it sent its 163-page report Friday to Lightfoot’s office, COPA, the Police Department and the Law Department. Those entities have 30 days to respond to the IG’s office, which said it will release a “detailed summary” of the report and the responses as part of a quarterly report early next year.

City spokespersons did not immediately respond to WBEZ requests for comment.

Chip Mitchell reports out of WBEZ’s West Side studio about policing. Follow him at @ChipMitchell1. Contact him at cmitchell@wbez.org.