CITY HALL — Within a week of meeting a man on an online dating service, an investigator with the now-defunct Independent Police Review Authority gave him confidential information about his ex-partner — a Chicago police officer, Inspector General Joseph Ferguson revealed Tuesday.
That police misconduct investigator, who was not identified by Ferguson in his quarterly report released Tuesday, has been fired. However, the investigator is appealing her termination.
The Chicago officer's former partner "filed several unfounded complaints with IPRA against the CPD officer, and was previously accused by the CPD officer of domestic violence, child custody violations and stalking," according to the report.
"Within approximately one week of meeting the officer's former partner on Match.com and throughout their six-week romance, the police misconduct investigator provided the individual with sensitive information about the officer, whom the investigator referred to as a 'miserable witch,' according to the report.
The investigator used city databases to gather information about the officer, giving her boyfriend information about the officer’s assignment, start time and assigned work location, according to the report.
In addition, the investigator discussed the details of a complaint her boyfriend filed against the officer, according to the report.
In violation of IPRA policy, the IPRA employee failed to notify her supervisors about her relationship with the officer's former partner.
Neither the officer nor her former partner were identified by the inspector general.
In February, the Tribune reported that Officer Emily Hook sued the city after discovering emails from a police misconduct investigator to her former partner, whom she was suing for child support.
Those emails included her work schedule and tips on how to make misconduct complaints against officers stick, the newspaper reported.
In a separate case, the inspector general reported that a computer operator for IPRA interfered with officers who were investigating the nonfatal shooting of the computer operator's partner.
The shooting victim made false statements to police with the knowledge of the employee, according to the report.
"The employee made repeated, unsolicited declarations to the officers about being employed by IPRA, which created the perception that the employee was using the position at IPRA as a shield for the employee’s partner," according to the report.
The operator resigned after being interviewed about the incident by the inspector general.
Long criticized for failing to hold officers who commit misconduct accountable, the Independent Police Review Authority was replaced last month by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability after a furor prompted by the release of a dashcam video showing a police officer fatally shoot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times.
