Today, it was reported that the mother of Jaya Beemon (a nursing student who was shot and killed) was arrested by a CPD officer at the University of Chicago Hospital where her daughter’s body was taken. Jaya’s family said they were not allowed to view her body at the hospital.
The below statement can be attributed to Elizabeth Jordan, Staff Attorney, Police Practices Project, ACLU of Illinois:
“It is puzzling and disconcerting that a police officer – a trained professional who should be able to de-escalate a tense situation – chose the worst moment of Jaya’s mother’s life to arrest her. The consent decree designed to reform the CPD specifically speaks to the need for officers to treat victims of crime with courtesy, dignity, and respect.
This sad moment makes clear that there is a long way to go in this process. No grieving mother should face arrest in the hospital where her child’s body has been taken. We express our truest condolences to the Beemon family and we hope that CPD addresses the failures in how this situation was handled.”