A downtown police district’s commander was demoted to captain and reassigned Friday after he refused to assign district patrol cars to sit outside CPD Supt. David Brown’s favorite steakhouse, according to multiple sources.
The police department did not respond to emails seeking a reason for the sudden demotion of former Central District Cmdr. Jake Alderden, a decorated police veteran, on Friday.
But multiple sources confirmed that the primary reason Brown reduced Alderden’s rank to captain and reassigned him to a unit that takes police reports over the phone is that Alderden would not station a patrol car outside Remington’s steakhouse, 20 North Michigan.
A well-placed source initially poo-pooed the idea that Alderden’s demotion was linked to Brown’s request for a police presence outside his favorite chow house.
By Saturday, the source changed their tune: “That restaurant sh*t was real.”
Two sources said a restaurant employee mentioned to Brown last month that a series of “large group” incidents were impacting businesses in the area. Brown, who recently disbanded CPD’s downtown deployment program that drew cops from across the city to babysit locations in the central business district, reportedly told Alderden to post one of the district’s scarce patrol cars outside Remington’s. There’s no indication that the restaurant asked Brown to do that.
“In addition to the marked car, a tactical car is also required to be in the area in the event there are any incidents nearby,” a second source said.
Remington’s management did not immediately respond to an email Sunday.
CWB’s team was also skeptical when the tips about Alderden’s demotion began rolling in early Friday. So, we headed down to Remington’s for lunch. Shortly before the restaurant opened, a police squad car rolled up and parked outside 30 North Michigan, facing the restaurant’s outdoor dining patio and entrance.
The car was still there, lights flashing for no apparent reason, when we left. Squad cars were posted outside the restaurant when our reporters passed by on Friday evening and twice on Saturday.
Alderden assumed command of the Central District in January 2020 after serving as its second-in-command. He previously worked as a field lieutenant and tactical lieutenant in the district.
“He personally apprehended a sh*t load of offenders” during a wave of looting that swept the downtown area in August 2020, an officer said.
“It’s a shame,” the officer continued. “He was involved in the Mercy Hospital shooting and the Columbus statue incident.” In fact, Alderden received the department’s Carter H. Harrison Award for bravery after the hospital shooting, which left a Chicago police officer and three others dead.