A Chicago City Council panel suggested Monday that a Black woman who was handcuffed naked by police officers during a bungled raid on her apartment in 2019 be paid almost $3 million.
According to a report from the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, Anjanette Young, a social worker, sobbed and explained to the officers that they were at the incorrect address, but she was still handcuffed.
"The city has never denied Ms. Young suffered an indignity" during the raid, city Corporation Counsel Celia Meza testified before the Finance Committee, the Chicago Tribune said.
The compensation is an attempt to atone for the police department's national embarrassment and Mayor Lori Lightfoot's debacle.
Not only did the police officers who stormed Young's apartment refuse to allow her to dress, but she was correct when she repeatedly informed them that they had arrived at the wrong place.
After the committee meeting, Kristen Cabanban, a representative for the city's legal department, said the inquiry revealed that police forced Young to remain naked for 17 seconds and that the clothing they placed on her kept sliding off until she was permitted to change some 40 minutes later.
In February 2019, officer Alain Aporongao raided Young's first-floor house based on information provided from an unidentified source. According to the report, a source informed Aporongao that an acquaintance flashed an illegal firearm at a residence.
The subject of the search warrant, who had previously been detained, was identified as living in an apartment building across the street and somewhat south of Young, the report disclosed.
Police Supt. David Brown later called for the dismissal of Sgt. Alex Wolinski, claiming in documents released by the city that Wolinski approved the warrant without following the department's "Knock and Announce" policy, failed to intervene in Young's "disrespectful treatment," and did not promptly provide Young with a copy of the search warrant.
Meanwhile, Lightfoot's claim that she was unaware of the bungled raid was shown as untrue when emails proved that she had been informed by her staff.
The mayor faced additional criticism when municipal attorneys sought a court order barring a local television station from showing video of the raid on Young's home.
The deal will add to the city's massive payouts in recent years for police wrongdoing.
According to a 2016 AP investigation, the city has paid approximately $662 million in settlements since 2004, with the Chicago Tribune claiming in 2019 that the total has surpassed $750 million.
