The Chicago police officers who fired 96 shots that killed Dexter Reed had a total of 41 complaints on their records, many of which included traffic stops that civilians believe were unwarranted, according to several recent reports.
The news came as faith leaders on the West Side demanded a meeting with Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling. This week, faith leaders met privately with Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten.
Reed, 26, was killed when officers stopped him during a traffic stop on March 21. COPA said the officers pulled Reed over for not wearing a seatbelt. Kersten questioned how the officers from a distance could tell whether Reed was wearing a seatbelt when he had tinted windows on his SUV.
There is also the question of whether Reed fired first or whether he fired at all. COPA said based on preliminary evidence, Reed fired first, striking an officer in the arm.
Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara said last week that Reed fired not one, but 11 rounds — and was still firing when the officers began firing back. This claim has not been confirmed by COPA.
Officers fired a total of 96 shots in 41 seconds at Reed after he failed to obey commands to unlock the door; one officer alone fired 50 bullets. That same officer fired three shots at Reed as he lay motionless on the ground next to his vehicle.
Citing police data obtained by a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the Sun-Times reported that same officer has been on the force for two years and has at least seven complaints filed with COPA. The report said two of those complaints alleged the officer used excessive force, and five complaints alleged the officer made improper stops or searches.
In seven complaints, one or more of the officers who pulled over Reed were accused of stopping motorists or pedestrians for no reason.
Four complaints involve allegations of excessive force, according to the Sun-Times. In another report on a “preventable traffic accident,” a man alleged officers purposely hit him with their vehicle as he ran from a traffic stop. The complaint notes that a gun in a bag was found near him.
In another complaint reported by the Sun-Times last August, a man said three officers stopped his car, with the officers driving at his car on the wrong side of West Congress Parkway in West Garfield Park with just the spotlight on.
Officers told the driver they stopped him because they saw his passenger not wearing a seatbelt. The driver told COPA investigators he thought it would have been difficult to see into his vehicle from a block away. Police asked for his license and insurance and left without issuing a ticket.
According to the Sun-Times, none of the officers involved in the Reed shooting have been on the force longer than five years.
The shooting sparked protests and gained national attention as many believe Chicago police used excessive force while Reed no longer posed a threat.
In an interview with CBS2 Chicago, Sharon Fairley, the former head of COPA, said officers in the Dexter Reed shooting will need to justify every shot they fired at Reed.
“They don’t get a pass if the evidence shows that Mr. Reed did fire first. That doesn’t mean like game over, you know, we stop there,” said Fairley. “There’s still a lot that needs to be figured out.
“Literally, each bullet that was fired has to be justified,” said Fairley, who is now a professor of law at the University of Chicago.
Fairley told CBS2 Chicago that police can use a traffic violation as a pretext for a stop.
“If they see someone make a traffic violation, they can stop that car — even if the real reason that they want to stop that car is something entirely different,” she said.
“If the officers claim that the justification for the stop was a seatbelt violation — and then the evidence shows that it’s not really possible that they could really have seen that — that means that they weren’t being truthful,” Fairley said. “And that’s also, obviously, a serious rule violation.”
According to an analysis by the social justice group Impact for Equity, pretextual stops— including for seatbelt violations — were used by the CPD 537,000 times in 2023.
More than 10 percent of those stops were made in the 11th District, where Reed was stopped and where just 2 percent of Chicago residents live.
Black drivers are six times as likely to be stopped as white drivers, according to the report. Citywide, only 3.7 percent of traffic stops resulted in citations, and 0.75 percent led to the discovery of contraband.
