CHICAGO (AP) — A city watchdog has concluded in a scathing report that the Chicago Police Department failed miserably in its response to the violence last year in the wake of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis police custody.
The Office of Inspector General concludes that the department's top brass was woefully unprepared for the violence that erupted and did not provide officers on the front lines of the violence with nearly enough guidance on what they should be doing.
The blistering report stated the blame on the inadequate response should be placed upon “strategic and tactical incoherence” from the top and alleged that Superintendent David Brown underestimated the problems that the anticipated protests might bring,
According to the 152-page report, officers on the scene lacked leadership, and no one knew what to do.
In return, it made them feel they were there to fend for themselves. It found evidence that officers failed to turn on body cameras and even covered their nameplates.
The report said those things would cause lasting damage to a department already desperately trying to regain public trust.
