Cook County Bar Association Condemns Chicago Police Officers’ Shameful Mistreatment of Anjanette Young

One of our nation’s bedrock principles is that a person has the right to be secure from unwarranted police intrusion in their own home.  Unfortunately, this principle has not been upheld for many Black and Brown residents of Chicago.

Shortly after midnight in late February 2019, a woman named Anjanette Young was preparing for bed when Chicago police officers burst into her home with guns drawn. Officers acted under a “knock and announce” warrant, which requires them to give the resident a reasonable amount of time to respond. But the Department’s policy does not define the word “reasonable.” And in this case, officers knocked, said the word “police,” and almost immediately began ramming into Ms. Young’s front door. 

Ms. Young was naked and had no time to clothe herself before seven male officers barged into her home. Although she was not the target of their search (and in fact, had no connection to the target), Ms. Young was handcuffed and left standing nude while officers rummaged through her home. She repeatedly tried to explain that she had no involvement with the target, stating more than 40 times that the police had raided the wrong home. And though items like a blanket were draped across Ms. Young’s shoulders at various points, she remained exposed for much of the more than 30 minutes that officers occupied her home.

The Cook County Bar Association condemns the officers’ shameful mistreatment of Ms. Young. One of the many, deeply disturbing, aspects of this incident is that it occurred almost two years ago but has only been brought to light within the past few weeks. Lawyers for the City not only withheld footage of the raid from Ms. Young herself, but they also tried to prevent a local news station from showing it.

Several of the officers involved in the raid on Ms. Young’s home have had prior complaints made against them; one was allegedly involved in another mistaken raid in 2017. The police superintendent recently placed all officers involved in this incident on administrative leave as the Civil Office of Police Accountability investigates.

Yet, the problem lies far deeper than with these individual officers. Recent news coverage has made public what Black Chicagoans have long known, that is, that police officers often act with callous indifference to the rights of people of color. Here, Ms. Young was wholly unconnected to the actual target of their raid, but even if she had known that person, the officers’ behavior still would be improper. The notion that officers can treat anyone who happens to be in the same house as a suspect with utter contempt—whether or not the bystander is suspected of criminal activity—is entirely unacceptable.

CCBA applauds Ms. Young’s courage in speaking so eloquently about what was obviously a very traumatic episode. Our hope is that the public outcry over the officers’ disgraceful conduct will lead to meaningful policy changes.

The Mayor has appointed the Honorable Ann Claire Williams, a respected, retired federal judge, to lead an independent investigation of every aspect of this incident, including the conduct of the mayor’s office. CCBA looks forward to reviewing her report and any attendant recommendations that she might make for much-needed systemic reforms. Also, in early 2021 CCBA’s Criminal and Civil Rights Committees plan to hold a townhall that addresses the legal implications of these type of incidents, as well as strategies to prevent them. Please be on the lookout for more information about the forum.