Chicago taxpayers are being asked to pay $1.25 million to compensate the family of Dexter Reed, who was shot to death by police officers last year after Reed shot and wounded one of them during a traffic stop.
The settlement stems from an “unlawful and unconstitutional traffic stop” by a Chicago Police Department with a “history of these pretextual stops,” according to Andrew Stroth, an attorney for the Reed family.
The $1.25 million settlement includes “non-monetary relief for a family committed to reform,” said Stroth, who declined to spell out the specific reforms.
“This case is about an unlawful and violent escalatory traffic stop in a city that has a pattern and practice of these types of discriminatory, pretextual stops,” Stroth told the Sun-Times Monday.
In a pretexual stop, officers use some minor offense, like a traffic violation, as a pretense to look for more serious things, like guns or drugs.
The Chicago Police Department used “several different stories” to explain why Reed was stopped, Stroth said.
“First, they said no seatbelt. Then they said tinted windows. It was all pretextual,” he said.
“The city has spent tens of millions of dollars defending cases [like this]. Because this is a pattern-and-practice case about traffic stops and about the policies and procedures of the Chicago Police Department, the cost of defense is several millions of dollars. ”
Reed, 26, was shot March 21, 2024 in the 3800 block of West Ferdinand Avenue in the Harrison District, a jurisdiction among the most violent in Chicago.
Four officers fired 96 shots in 41 seconds at Reed — and struck him 13 times. The officers opened fire after Reed fired first, striking one of five tactical officers in the hand. All of the officers were dressed in plainclothes and were piled into a single SUV.
In the days and hours leading up to Reed’s death, those same five officers conducted 50 traffic stops on Chicago’s West Side. None of those 50 stops generated a single ticket. When the lawsuit was first announced in April, Reed’s mother, Nicole Banks, said the officers had “executed him.”
According to a report by Impact for Equity, a reform organization, the Harrison District, whose station is at Kedzie and Harrison avenues, had the largest number of traffic stops of all the city’s 22 police districts — more than 10% of all the stops in Chicago in 2023.
A monitor for the five-year-old federal consent decree that calls for reforms in the police department recommended traffic stops be added to the list of police activities that should be re-examined but that has yet to happen. And the Community Commission on Public Safety and Accountability, which reformers said should create rules for traffic stops, has not weighed in on the subject.
Two months ago, before the amount of the settlement was even known, the City Council’s staunchest police advocates questioned the city’s decision to settle with Reed’s family for any amount — especially before the pending disciplinary case against the five officers had been resolved.
At the time, police allies on the Council branded the settlement “hasty” and “fishy,” calling the shooting “justified.”
Those same alderpersons are even more concerned now that they know the $1.25 million price tag is tied only to the pretextual stop and that reforms are part of the settlement.
“The message is ‘Stand down, Chicago Police Department. … Don’t bother getting out of your car. Don’t bother enforcing the law. Don’t bother serving and protecting communities, particularly communities with high crime rates,'” said Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th), whose Far Southwest Side ward is home to scores of Chicago police officers.
“If you go to any neighborhood that’s stricken with crime, those residents are terrified to leave their homes after dark. … They want to see more cops. They want to see cops questioning people.”
O’Shea was not appeased by Stroth stressing that the federal judge in the Reed case “directed the parties to have a settlement conference” and that the “cost of defense” would amount to “several million dollars.”
“For the city of Chicago to pay $1.25 million to the family of Dexter Reed — a family that did nothing to get this mentally unhealthy person help? It’s absurd. ”
The settlement must be approved by the Finance Committee and City Council.
Far Northwest Side Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41st), who has served the city as both a police officer and firefighter, was also incensed by the settlement.
“It’s an absolute embarrassment. We no longer have a legal department. We have a negotiation department. … They don’t do any litigating anymore,” Napolitano said.
“Where is our line in the sand? We shouldn’t be settling at all. These officers were fired upon. One of them was hit. Your training kicks in that you’re supposed to pull out your weapon and shoot that target until it’s over. You can’t Monday-morning-quarterback that. It’s next to impossible unless you’re gonna put robots on the street.”
Napolitano said he’s concerned the settlement and reforms will prejudge the still-pending disciplinary cases against the five officers involved in the Reed stop and shooting.
One of those officers, Alexandra Giampapa, left the department Nov. 17, a CPD spokesperson said. The four remaining officers remain on administrative duty.
“This settlement absolutely makes them look like they’re guilty,” Napolitano said.
“This socialist administration does not care about that. Their goal is to demonize and handcuff our police. That’s the road they’re going down.”
Police Committee Chairman Chris Taliaferro (29th) told the Sun-Times in December the police shooting of Reed was “justified.”
But Taliaferro said Monday he “somewhat expected” a settlement in the $1.25 million range if the Law Department has concluded Reed should not have been stopped in the first place.
“Even a judge has looked at it and said, ‘You guys need to settle. Otherwise, you may be faced with an even higher amount that you may be paying.'”