When the Chicago City Council created an independent agency in 2007 to review officer-involved shootings and allegations of misconduct, aldermen called the move a powerful way to reform the Police Department.
Now, a law firm that has won several large judgments in brutality cases is targeting the Independent Police Review Authority, accusing the agency of stalling a brutality case and concealing the names of the officers involved.
"They keep saying they are legit, but their actions say otherwise," says Jon Loevy, of the law firm Loevy & Loevy. "Whenever the police do something wrong, they refuse to close the investigation. It's hard not to see IPRA as just another cog in the machine."
The allegations involve a Little Village youth with autism who was allegedly beaten by Chicago police on April 22.
Loevy says the lawsuit his firm is working on will accuse IPRA of conspiring with police to violate the boy's civil rights.
He acknowledges that bringing IPRA into the suit will present some legal hurdles.
"They'll argue we can't sue them," he says. "It's something the judge will have to decide."
I've got a call in to IPRA's spokesperson, and will update if I get a response from the agency.
Windy Citizen 