Tonight my girlfriend was hit by a motorist who fled the scene, and the officer who showed up to take her report (after she called 911) treated her condescendingly and suggested that she shouldn't have bothered to file the report. He stated "there are a lot of dangerous drivers and dangerous cyclists out there" as he shrugged off the state of confused shock she was in. He also incorrectly repeated some of the details of her account of the collision, but refused to go over his report with her because "she's not a Chicago police officer".
The motorist temporarily yielded and made eye contact with her before hitting her. She had her left hand out and her rear light was flashing bright as she was attempting to make a left turn on a north side city street. Yet the motorist grew irritated or anxious and decided to squeeze by her -- and ended up swiping her with the side mirror.
At this point, she now wants to file a report against the police officer for the inappropriate way he treated her and his responsibility. If anyone has some advice on filing a complaint against a Chicago Police officer, please share it.
My girlfriend was upset when she called me after the motorist hit her, but she was far more upset after this lousy Chicago Police officer met with her. I know Chicago's finest don't include lousy cops like this guy. I think this guy is a disgrace to the uniform.
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Find out what District the accident was in and go directly to the District building. File a complaint against the Officer you dealt The desk officer will likely be just as awful or worse. Desk officers are like that. If you receive an answer attempting to dissuade you ask for a Sgt or Lieutenant. The complaint gets investigated and since there are no other witness's nothing happens but they do keep a record of the complaint so he might not do it again.
Any further questions?
As a side note, when CPD does a good job make a note of that as well. You can e-mail or do the same above for something positive but no one does.
Good luck!
Did she get a plate on the car?
Did she get a badge number on the officer?
I am not sure how to report the officer but she really should and if they did get a plate on it I suggest following up to make sure it is pursued, or, at the very least, the report is accurate.
Please have her call our Crash Support Hotline 312.869.4357 (HELP) www.activetrans.org/crashsupport. We can offer resources and referrals that may help.
Gabe is correct about going directly to the District and asking for the Desk Sgt. to file the complaint. It's good to get the District Commander's name so you can cc them on any follow-up letters or communication.
Please keep us posted on this issue, we hope your girlfriend can resolve it quickly.
Ethan Spotts, Marketing & Communications, Active Trans
Good point, Gabe...we agree with that approach.
Ethan, with Active Trans
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