Chicago police superintendent defends 120-day suspension for officer accused of Proud Boy ties
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The discipline of a Chicago police officer who was investigated for alleged ties to a white nationalist group became a flashpoint during Friday’s wide-ranging Police Department budget hearing, which saw Superintendent David Brown on the defensive over discontent with his public safety plan, ballooning overtime costs and more.
Ald. Jason Ervin, 28th, questioned Brown on why Officer Robert Bakker received only a 120-day suspension over allegations including that he didn’t reveal he was interviewed by federal authorities about his alleged past involvement with the Proud Boys.
Brown defended the choice not to fire Bakker and said the investigation did not turn up sufficient evidence that the officer was affiliated with the organization.
“The Chicago Police Department has zero tolerance for any of its sworn members being members of hate groups or associated with hate groups,” Brown said in his first public remarks on the case. “The allegations put forth on this officer did not support by a preponderance of evidence, which is the legal standard, that this member associated with or was a member of a hate group — Proud Boys or any other hate group.”
Brown continued, “I will just say from a personal note, I’ve been Black a long time. I would not tolerate an officer being a member of or being associated with a hate group.”
A “preponderance of evidence” means the allegations being investigated must be more than 50% likely to be true. Brown said that was not the case with Bakker’s ties to the Proud Boys, but there were “minor violations” related to inconsistent statements from the officer to investigators about the extent of his interactions with members of the group.
“What we did prove is that this officer failed to notify us that he had talked with federal authorities and some other minor violations,” Brown said. “And because of those minor violations, we mediated a very high level of discipline. One hundred and twenty days is a high level discipline for what we were able to prove.”
Bakker was initially investigated for allegedly associating with members of the white nationalist organization and posting messages in a group chat, including about meeting at a pub, and for being involved in apparent exchanges about a “patriot barbecue.”
In April of this year, the department’s bureau of internal affairs resolved the case with a mediation agreement that said Bakker would not contest any of the allegations against him in exchange for the 120-day suspension. City Inspector General Deborah Witzburg recommended that Brown reconsider that punishment but did not get a response.
On Friday, internal affairs Chief Yolanda Talley gave the surprising assertion that Bakker in fact was the one who requested the 120-day suspension in lieu of the department’s much-shorter expected offer.
“I’m just going to put it to you frankly,” Talley said, getting a nod from Brown to continue. “His suspension would not be more than five days for what we were able to prove. We brought him in for a second interview, and he just felt so bad that he was accused of this, he mediated 120 days. We didn’t offer him 120 days.”
Talley continued by pushing back on the idea of the Proud Boys being a hate group.
“The Proud Boys is not identified as an FBI hate group,” Talley said. “If the Proud Boys were identified as a hate group, this investigation would look totally different.”
In fact, the FBI does not keep a list of domestic groups that have been identified as a hate or extreme group, according to a statement the agency gave the Tribune Friday.
“The FBI does not designate hate groups,” the statement read. “The FBI does conduct investigations of domestic hate groups within guidelines established by the attorney general.”
The organization has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The statement said those guidelines include whether there has been a threat of force, whether the threat can be carried out and whether it violates federal law.
According to published new reports, as well FBI documents available on the agency’s website, members of the Proud Boys have, however, been the subject of investigations into violent acts, including in 2018, before the allegations surfaced against Bakker.
The city’s investigation into Bakker’s conduct was not criminal, however. Investigators were seeking to determine if he had engaged in behavior that violated department rules and regulations, including whether it was conduct unbecoming to the department.
Bakker’s disciplinary case was first brought up when Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, was the sole member of City Council to raise his hand in response to a colleague asking the chambers, “Can I get a show of hands of any aldermen in this room who would like to see less police?”
Fellow aldermen piped up, “I’ll take his,” in response. Sigcho-Lopez then left the City Council floor temporarily after shouting, “Take the white supremacists too. … It’s a shame to have white supremacists in the force.”
Also during Friday’s budget hearing, several aldermen pressed Brown on earlier comments he’d made blaming higher-than-budgeted overtime costs on special events such as next summer’s planned NASCAR takeover of Grant Park. Chicago police has $100 million budgeted for overtime this year but already spent $112 million so far on such costs, with more two months left in the year, Brown said.
“Primarily that’s a function of an increase — really an explosion of — special events across this city since Memorial Day weekend, much more than previous years, much more than pre-pandemic years,” Brown said, citing the Pride Parade in June and the 2023 NASCAR street race. “As we add more and more special events that require security, we need to understand that’s additional overtime.”
Special events require organizers to find private security before they get the city’s approval, but that usually is not enough, and Chicago police staffing power is also required. But such events also require police signoff before taking place.
“You guys sign off on this stuff and you’re complaining,” outgoing Ald. Tom Tunney, 44th, noted.
Brown responded: “We’re not party poopers. We’re not going to say you can’t have the extra special events that we’ve had this past year, but it does require security. And so we’re responsible for making sure these events are safe.”
Another City Council member set to retire in 2023, Ald. Harry Osterman, 48th, expressed frustration with Brown repeating crime is down while fears of violence remain pervasive.
“I don’t feel that you have a comprehensive plan to address violence that has bought people in,” Osterman said. “Because of the lack of a cohesive plan, we’re an island. … But the violence spreads everywhere and without a cohesive plan with buy in from folks, we’re nowhere.”
Through this month, Chicago has seen double-digit percentage reductions in shootings and homicides — 20% and 18%, respectively — over last year. But since 2019, homicides and shootings in the city were each up by at least 30%, according to official Chicago police statistics.
