Aldermen declined to pay a woman $125,000 to settle the lawsuit she filed after Chicago police officers fatally shot her son in her home when she called for help because he was threatening her with a knife.
Aldermen declined Monday to pay a woman $125,000 to settle the lawsuit she filed after Chicago police officers fatally shot her son in her home when she called for help because he was threatening her with a knife.
Bonds argued in her suit that the Police Department’s crisis intervention team training was inadequate, city lawyer Victoria Benson told aldermen, and if they had been better prepared, the situation could have been handled without her son, Terrance Harris, winding up dead.Chicago aldermen declined to advance a settlement proposal in a 2013 police-involved shooting. A Chicago police vehicle is shown with Willis Tower in the background this month.
Four officers went to Bonds’ home in October 2013 after she called 911 and said Harris was off his medication and threatening her with a knife, Benson said Monday. Harris opened the door and stabbed a sergeant who had received crisis intervention training in the face before retreating into the home and locking the door.
“So there was a CIT officer. He was stabbed in the face,” Southwest Side Ald. Silvana Tabares said Monday. “This is a justified but unfortunate situation. Settling sends a bad message to police officers when they have to make these split-second decisions.”Benson said the city was recommending the settlement because going to trial and litigating the specifics of the Police Department’s crisis intervention training program circa 2013 could result in Bonds receiving a larger payment.