Chicago police officer found at fault in killing of teen has history of lawsuits

Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO — A Chicago police officer found at fault by the city’s police watchdog for a teenager’s fatal shooting in 2012 fired at suspects in two other incidents, was involved in more than half a dozen lawsuits and had about 25 complaints filed against him, records show.

Over a recent four-year period, Officer Brandon Ternand was among about a dozen officers who had amassed the most complaints within the 12,000strong police force.

In its ruling, the Independent Police Review Authority called the officer’s shooting of 15-year-old Dakota Bright in the back of the head during a foot chase “unprovoked and unwarranted.”

On learning of the IPRA’s findings, a spokeswoman for Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said the office wouldtake another look at the shooting. In 2013, the office, then led by State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, decided not to prosecutethe officer.

“In light of IPRA’s recently released report, the Office plans to review the case to ensure that the matter has been thoroughly reviewed in light of all available information,” Ms. Foxx’s spokeswoman, Tandra Simonton, said in an emailed statement.

Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Officer Ternand, a 10year veteran, remains on active duty while the department reviews the IPRA’s findings.

Officer Ternand declined to comment, but a statement issued by the head of the police union that represents rank-and-file officers said the IPRA’s findings were politically motivated and questioned the competence of its investigators.

“We believe the decision by IPRA to rule this incident unjustified is certainly arbitrary, based more on political considerations than the rule of evidence,” said Fraternal Order of Police President Kevin Graham. “A gun was recovered. This incident also cries out for the fact that IPRA should have personnel qualified to conduct shooting investigations, which it currently does not have.”

The IPRA did not identify the officer, citing union contract prohibitions, but other records obtained by the Chicago Tribune through Freedom of Information Act requestsshow Officer Ternand shot Bright in the South Side’s Park Manor neighborhood on the afternoon of Nov. 8, 2012.

The IPRA report said that Bright was not armed when he was shot but may have tossed a gun during the chase. Officers found a .22caliber revolver in a front yard near where the chase began, IPRA said.

The IPRA report disclosed that a woman witnessed the shooting called 911 and reported that an officer had shot someone in the back.

“The fact that this statement was made contemporaneously with the actual event weighs in favor of its reliability, as does the fact it is corroborated by the physical evidence,” the IPRA said.

The records obtained by the Tribune show that Officer Ternand was among 11 officers in the department who amassed the most complaints between mid-December 2010 andmid-December 2014.

Over that time, he was the subject of 23 complaints alleging such things as the use of excessive force and illegal searches, according to the records. Officer Ternand was not disciplined in any of the cases.

FOP officials commonly point out that officers who work in high-crime areas often are hit with complaints they allege to be false. Officer Ternand has worked in violence-plagued parts of the South and West sides throughout his career.

Officer Ternand has also been named in six federal lawsuits in addition to the one by Bright’s family filed in Cook County Circuit Court. Recordsshow that the city has paid about $1.1 million overall in cases involving Officer Ternand, including $925,000 last year to settle the lawsuit by Bright’smother.

According to the records, Officer Ternand has fired shots on three separate occasions — all within about two years. In August 2012, about three months before Bright’s shooting,Officer Ternand and another officer fired at two men. Officer Ternand fired three shots but didn’t hit anyone,according to the records.

In October 2014, Officer Ternand shot three times at a 16-year-old but missed, the records show.

The ruling by the IPRA on Thursday was a rare decision finding a Chicago police officer at fault for use of force. Since the court-ordered release in late 2015 of video showing an officer shoot teenager Laquan McDonald 16 timessparked heated protests, political turmoil and promises of systemic change, the IPRAhas found five shootings — including Bright’s — to be unjustified uses of force. In contrast, in the eight years before that, the agency investigated hundreds of shootings but found only two to be unjustified.

Officer Ternand and his partner, and a second police unit, had responded to a call of a burglary in progress at about 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 8, 2012, but the officers found no trouble and began to leave when they saw Bright walking towardthem in an alley.

The officers claimed that Bright held a gun in his right hand, looked toward the officers and took off running while tucking the gun in his waist.

Officer Ternand gave chase on foot as Bright ran through backyards and jumped fences.

Officer Ternand later said he opened fire as he saw Bright stumble, reach toward his waist and turn in his direction.

Officer Ternand, identified by the IPRA only as Officer A, told detectives at the scene of the shooting that he spotted a dark-colored handgun in Bright’s hand on first seeing him in an alley. But IPRA noted that when his partner called in the description of the fleeing Bright to dispatchers at the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, he never said the suspect was armed, only that he was “holdin’ his left side.”

“The fact that Officer A claims to have seen (Bright) wield the firearm in this manner and failed to ensure that this information was reported to OEMC to inform his fellow officers lacks credibility,” the IPRA said.

The IPRA also found that Officer Ternand gave inconsistent accounts of what he saw Bright doing with his hands as he fled. Officer Ternand later said he saw Bright reaching for his waist, which IPRA called “an important justification” for Officer Ternand’s belief that the teen was armed. That made it all the more surprising, though, that Officer Ternand failed to mention that detail when he first spoke to detectives at the shootingscene, IPRA said.