REGARDING THE FEDERAL RAID ON A CHICAGO APARTMENT COMPLEX
The Ethical Society of Police condemns in the strongest terms the recent federal
law enforcement raid on a South Shore apartment complex in Chicago.
We are particularly horrified by the reports that children, awakened in terror,
witnessed these paramilitary tactics and in many cases were themselves
restrained – zip-tied, separated from parents, terrified. To use such tactics in a
residential building in the middle of the night is to inflict trauma not just on
targets but on entire families and communities. The psychological harm of
watching masked agents storm your home, of having one’s door destroyed, of
hearing flash bangs in a hallway, can last a lifetime. These children did nothing
wrong. They were victims of a spectacle of state violence.
What took place in Chicago was a betrayal of constitutional norms and a direct
assault on the legitimacy of policing. The Ethical Society of Police stands with
victims, children, families, and communities demanding justice and
accountability.
If law enforcement cannot be trusted to respect the rights of the vulnerable and
the innocent, then we forfeit the moral authority to expect compliance or
cooperation from any community. We must guard against this turning point:
either policing remains tethered to the rule of law, or it descends into arbitrary
force. We choose the former.
A CALL TO ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT:
Speak Out — Protect Constitutional Policing
We call upon all law enforcement agencies, officers, associations, and leaders –
municipal, state, and federal – to publicly denounce these unconstitutional
tactics.
Silence in the face of this abuse is complicity. We must, in fact cross the “thin
blue line” when adherence to constitutional values is at stake. We cannot afford
to let a line drawn between “us” and “them” become a shield behind which law
enforcement hides when violating rights.
Procedural justice is not optional – it is foundational. When a federal agency
behaves as though it is above the law, every officer who stands for lawful,
accountable, community-centered policing is undermined. The credibility of all
law enforcement in communities of color, immigrant communities, and among
vulnerable populations depends on us rejecting these actions, no matter under
what banner they are done.
To those who say “we must get tough” on crime or immigration: yes – law
enforcement must be effective, resolute, and just. But it must also be legal,
transparent, and constrained by the Constitution. Anything less is state violence,
not policing.
WE DEMAND:
- An immediate independent federal and local investigation into the conduct,
use of force, chain of command, and any violations of civil rights in the
Chicago raid.
- Release of all warrants or legal authorizations claimed to justify the operation
– redacted only where legally required – so that the public may judge whether
the operation had lawful basis.
- Accountability for any agents or supervisors found to have overstepped legal
bounds – up to removal, prosecution, or disciplinary action.
- A public recommitment by federal law enforcement (ICE, CBP, Border Patrol,
DHS) that no future operation will use militarized tactics in residential
neighborhoods unless it strictly complies with constitutional requirements,
minimal force doctrine, and full transparency.
- That local, state, and municipal departments refuse to cooperate in future
operations that fail to meet constitutional standards, and that police
associations issue formal statements condemning such violations.
