Official Complaint: Chicago Police Officers Abuse Parking for Personal Dining and Shopping...

Open Letter From June 1, 2011

Re: Officer Complaint, Non-official Police Parking Usage in 44th Ward…

Dear Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA), District Commander Kathleen Boehmer, Chicago Police Department, and Alderman Thomas Tunney,

I am writing you today to lodge an official complaint, in response to two separate [but related] incidents that occurred on the 500 and 600 blocks of W. Diversey Pkway on May 23, 2011, respectively; where both incidents occurred within a short 15-minute window.

I observed the first incident at 5:01 PM, along with my fellow witnesses, [Name Redacted], who shares my return address, and [Name Redacted] of [Address Redacted] in Mattoon, Illinois; where we observed the following: a fully-uniformed Chicago Police Officer devouring a burrito at Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant, at 610 W. Diversey Pkway, who then departed in an official Police squad car, enumerated with the numbers “7566,” that, while he was dining, was parked directly underneath a City sign, in front of the same address, which clearly posted the words “Tow Zone.”

The second incident was observed at 5:12 PM, by myself, along with the same aforementioned witnesses, where three officers approached and entered the Panera Bread Café at 616 W. Diversey Pkwy; from the direction of another police vehicle, a large truck enumerated with the numbers “6203,” with a license plate reading “M141981,” parked illegally in front of an AT&T Store at 554 W. Diversey Pkwy.

While there was a police officer, standing at attention in the AT&T Store, who could, or could not, be serving the public in his official capacity, or simply shopping, I have not the ability to know if he was aligned to Police vehicle #6203. But I do know that there is an AT&T Store chalked full of employees who witnessed the incident, especially since I entered the store and brought it to their attention that this vehicle was illegally parked in front of them.

Specifically, I’m concerned about the use of public assets, namely police squad cars, police uniforms, and badges, to acquire, and use, illegal parking, by uniformed officers on their own personal time, for the benefit of non-official, non-police activities, such as dining, shopping, socializing, and other activities not responsive to the enforcement of law or investigation of a crime, etc.

Summarily, I suspect that, on any given day, the abuse of police powers, along with the degradation of a sacred public trust, is occurring across the City on a colossal scale; and that such a level of corruption can only be explained by inaction within the highest levels of the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA), and the Chicago Police Department. For that reason, I am copying other city, state, and federal regulatory authorities in the distribution of this letter.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Cordially,
David "Watchdog" Jenkins
investigations@illinoisstatehouse.com

Enclosures:

Freedom of Information Act Request, dated June 2, 2011
Freedom of Information Act Request, dated June 3, 2011