A recent Chicago police academy graduate filed a police report against her field training officer this week, alleging that he took her to the ground and dragged her during an impromptu training scenario in Grant Park.
CWBChicago is not naming the field training officer because he has not been charged with wrongdoing. A CPD spokesperson declined to comment for this story because there is an “open and active” internal investigation.
The police report documenting the probationary officer’s allegations, filed Monday morning, did not say when the incident occurred.
According to the report, the woman and her training officer were in full uniform when they responded to a complaint of a homeless person living in a tent near the Columbus Statue pedestal in Grant Park around 11:42 a.m.
They didn’t see anything amiss, and the woman was about to “code out” the assignment when the training officer allegedly had another idea.
“No,” he allegedly said. “We’re going to do a scenario for training.”
The training officer, a 41-year-old, 8-year veteran of the force, asked her what she would do if someone attacked her.
The woman took out her baton and explained the actions she would take, according to the complaint.
But the training officer “took the baton out of her hand and asked the victim what she would do now,” the report continued.
As she answered, the training officer allegedly grabbed her by her tactical vest with both hands and “forcefully threw the victim to the ground.”
He then grabbed both of her arms, “putting them in some kind of lock, and began dragging the victim on the grass.
“What are you going to do?” the older officer allegedly asked. “Fight back.”
The report said he let go of the woman after dragging her for about two feet. When she returned to her feet “in a state of shock,” the training officer adjusted her vest and shirt, which had become disheveled.
“I wish this was captured on a [bodyworn camera] or a surveillance camera,” the woman said. According to the report, the woman’s body camera was broken on the date of the incident, and she opened a ticket to report the problem.
The training officer reportedly suggested that one of the nearby buildings might have a camera that captured everything. The report said that he and the woman worked the rest of their shift without bringing the incident up.
According to the complaint, the woman did not require medical attention. Her grass-stained uniform pants were taken as evidence.
CPD’s Bureau of Internal Affairs was notified of the probationary officer’s complaint Monday morning, the report said.
The woman’s age is not listed in the police report, but she graduated from college in 2019, according to her LinkedIn profile.
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