Chicago Police Unions Push for Destruction of Old Complaints

Chicago Police Unions Push for Destruction of Old Complaints
Willie Preston, left, scuffles with a police officer after he and other protesters tried to keep two women, partly seen at right, from attending the annual Interfaith Breakfast at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place hotel in Chicago, Friday, Jan. 15, 2016. Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP
The Associated Press
Updated:

CHICAGO—Unions representing Chicago police officers are fighting for the destruction of tens of thousands of documents from disciplinary files dating back several decades, just as activists and community leaders are demanding more access and transparency from a department under intense scrutiny after several controversial police shootings.

The two unions‘ contracts with the city stipulate that the records, including complaints alleging misconduct, be destroyed after five years in most cases if no litigation is ongoing. The city says it has had to keep the files because of federal court orders issued in litigation going back to the 1990s. But the unions say they only recently discovered they still existed when the city informed them it would release all documents as part of a massive public records request by several newspapers.