Chicago Police Board issues ruling in officer discipline dispute, affirms several applicant disqualifications

Board member Steven Block, sitting remotely, announced the Police Board's written opinion in two disagreement cases involving a sergeant and an officer and explained which of the chief administrator's recommended discharges the superintendent had overcome.

"It is my opinion that the superintendent met the burden of overcoming the chief administrator's recommendation for discipline as to Sergeant Lyakopoulos," Block said, while adding the superintendent met the burden on some but not all allegations concerning Officer Reynoso. A copy of Block's written opinion will be posted to the board's website, Cooper said.

Later in the meeting the board took final action on closed-session appeals by applicants who had been disqualified from eligibility after background investigations. President Kyle Cooper moved to affirm disqualification decisions for appeals 24AA63, 367 and 69 and to reverse the disqualification for appeal 24AA68. Board members Claudia Badillo, Steven Block, Tyler Hall, Andrea Sefakas and Cynthia Velasquez were recorded as voting in favor; Cooper announced the motion passed and said the written decisions would be entered as of today's date and published on the board website.

The board did not provide additional details about evidence or recommended discipline in open session; Cooper said the written decisions and Block's opinion will be posted online. The board's public materials on the website contain case identifiers for the matters the board heard and will be the official source for the detailed rulings.