Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling speaks to WBEZ investigative reporter Dan Mihalopoulos inside his office at the Chicago Police Department headquarters in the Bronzeville neighborhood on Oct. 17, 2023.
Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling speaks to WBEZ investigative reporter Dan Mihalopoulos inside his office at the Chicago Police Department headquarters in the Bronzeville neighborhood on Oct. 17, 2023. Pat Nabong / Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling speaks to WBEZ investigative reporter Dan Mihalopoulos inside his office at the Chicago Police Department headquarters in the Bronzeville neighborhood on Oct. 17, 2023.
Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling speaks to WBEZ investigative reporter Dan Mihalopoulos inside his office at the Chicago Police Department headquarters in the Bronzeville neighborhood on Oct. 17, 2023. Pat Nabong / Chicago Sun-Times

Investigative reporter Jamie Kalven is urging the Chicago Police Department to do more to root out racist officers from within its ranks. A recent WBEZ-Sun-Times investigation found dozens of current and former CPD officers had joined the extremist organization the Oath Keepers. In his new piece in The Intercept, Kalven argues the problem of extremism goes much deeper than officers belonging to hate groups. And he says the department’s own complaint files hold the key to identifying officers who - in his words - “practice racism as sport.” 

Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling speaks to WBEZ investigative reporter Dan Mihalopoulos inside his office at the Chicago Police Department headquarters in the Bronzeville neighborhood on Oct. 17, 2023.
Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling speaks to WBEZ investigative reporter Dan Mihalopoulos inside his office at the Chicago Police Department headquarters in the Bronzeville neighborhood on Oct. 17, 2023. Pat Nabong / Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling speaks to WBEZ investigative reporter Dan Mihalopoulos inside his office at the Chicago Police Department headquarters in the Bronzeville neighborhood on Oct. 17, 2023.
Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling speaks to WBEZ investigative reporter Dan Mihalopoulos inside his office at the Chicago Police Department headquarters in the Bronzeville neighborhood on Oct. 17, 2023. Pat Nabong / Chicago Sun-Times

Investigative reporter Jamie Kalven is urging the Chicago Police Department to do more to root out racist officers from within its ranks. A recent WBEZ-Sun-Times investigation found dozens of current and former CPD officers had joined the extremist organization the Oath Keepers. In his new piece in The Intercept, Kalven argues the problem of extremism goes much deeper than officers belonging to hate groups. And he says the department’s own complaint files hold the key to identifying officers who - in his words - “practice racism as sport.”