Ella French: Chicago police watchdog wants cop suspended but there's a HUGE problem
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: A Chicago police watchdog has been criticized heavily after it demanded the suspension or firing of eight police officers, who were involved in the botched 2019 raid of Anjanette Young. However, one of the cops named in the list is officer Ella French, who was killed in August of this year during a traffic stop.
As per reports, the raid at Young happened in February 2019 when cops barged into her house while she was naked only to find later that it was a wrong address. After Ella’s death, the social worker remembered her respectfully and claimed she was the only person who “treated her with dignity”.
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Now, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, members of the City Council, the president of the city's police officers' union, and a brother of the slain officer have slammed the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) recommendation. But in its defense, the Chicago police review agency said that though the report on the raid of Young’s house was released publicly recently, it was completed in late April, two months before Ella was murdered.
The woman officer died after an SUV was approached by her and another cop. But one of the people inside the vehicle identified as Monte Morgan did not cooperate and reportedly pulled a .22 caliber handgun and fired. One of the bullets hit Ella in the head while officer Carlos Yanez Jr. got stuck in the right eye and shoulder. While Yanez Jr survived, Ella lost her life.
Meanwhile, while referring to Ella’s earlier 2019 raid, Ephraim Eaddy, Chief Spokesperson to COPA said in an email to the Chicago Sun-Times: “Following the review and concurrence by the Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department, as well as serving of administrative charges, we carefully considered the release of the report and its impact on Ms. Anjanette Young and Ella French’s family.”
Eaddy added, “We honor the service Officer French gave to our city and mourn her death and also hope the release of the report brings further closure to Ms. Anjanette Young.” But COPA demanded the suspension in its report because Ella was not wearing a body-worn camera when she reached Young’s house.
Criticizing COPA’s report, John Catanzara, president of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, said, “This is the latest example of why that agency has zero credibility in the eyes of every CPD officer. We demand an apology immediately for the intentional harm caused to Ella's family, friends and co-workers.”
Lightfoot said that COPA should have considered Young’s praise for Ella before including her name in the list. She added, “They could have taken different action, particularly in light of the fact that Ms. Young herself said that Officer French showed her respect and treated her with dignity. It just doesn't make sense that COPA made this decision.”
Ella’s brother, Andrew French, also expressed his shock and stated, “This is disgraceful. This is disrespectful to her name, disrespectful on so many levels.” And, in a statement, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said, “Failing to acknowledge her death in the line of duty and redact her name from the Civilian Office of Police Accountability's report is unnecessarily insensitive.”