by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman
March 24, 2026
The cop additionally has a horde of complaints towards him for unprofessional conduct.
A Chicago police officer has been suspended from obligation for an additional improper cease and search of a Black civilian.
Officer Richard Rodriguez Jr. simply confronted repercussions for earlier violations towards Black Chicagoans’ rights. Now, a ruling from a Chicago Police Board member will maintain Rodriguez accountable for this repeated offense towards Black males within the downtown space. In response to WTTW, Rodriguez can be suspended from the power for at the very least 30 days over the coverage violation.
This ruling stems from a September 2023 incident the place Rodriguez reportedly ripped a person’s pants off whereas on obligation with the Close to North (18th) Police District tactical crew. The altercation started after Rodriguez and two fellow officers on the crew questioned three males sitting on the entrance steps of a enterprise.
One of many males, recognized as Jeremiah Blankenship, ran away from the police in the course of the encounter. The officers chased after him, catching up with Blankenship 4 blocks away. After apprehending the person, Rodriguez escalated the encounter with the invasive search of his physique.
“Officer Rodriguez searched the crotch space below the highest layer of clothes, exposing (Blakenship’s) underwear,” in accordance with the probe carried out by the Civilian Workplace of Police Accountability.
Nonetheless, when the person questioned the search, Rodriguez reportedly responded with “’trigger you bought one thing in yo ass,” overheard on body-worn digital camera footage. Upon evaluation of the incident, COPA really useful at the very least a 30-day suspension for violating civilians’ rights.
Regardless of the advice, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling objected to the allegations that Rodriguez’s search was improper. As an alternative, he defended Rodriguez’s motion, stating that the pants had been in “very poor situation,” main them to collapse.
Nonetheless, Rodriguez admitted to tearing the pants purposefully regardless of the general public setting, stretching the clothes to see if Blankenship had something tucked within the buttocks space. With the COPA board and Snelling disagreeing on the suspension, a random member of the CPB needed to resolve on the matter.
That member, Justin Terry, cited Rodriguez’s personal account and admission of what occurred with Blankenship to find out the suspension as needed.
“The superintendent’s clarification of Officer Rodriguez’s actions just isn’t persuasive in gentle of Officer Rodriguez’s assertion in response to Mr. Blankenship’s asking why he ripped his denims and the publicity of his undergarment,” Terry wrote.
The ruling comes simply months after Rodriguez obtained one other suspension for a previous improper search. The Chicago cop additionally has dozens of complaints for violations on obligation, with one incident even ensuing within the stripping of his police powers.
He turns into the fifth member of that tactical crew to lose his badge and gun for unprofessional conduct towards Black residents within the metropolis.
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