A Chicago police officer previously shot in the line of duty — who publicly rebuked his former union — has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city, alleging that he was kept from joining the Police Department’s SWAT unit because he is Black.
In a federal civil rights lawsuit filed last week, Officer Julius Givens
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alleges he was denied a position on the special weapons and tactics team as part of the Chicago Police Department’s “long-standing and unconstitutional” practice of discriminating against Black officers who apply for specialized units.“By making final decisions based on subjective criteria, the CPD has permitted unlawful and unconstitutional discrimination to infect the promotions process, which it has done historically and continues to do today,” the five-count complaint alleges.
Representatives for the city and CPD declined to comment on the pending litigation. Givens’ attorneys didn’t respond to requests for comment. Court records show the first hearing in the case has not been scheduled.
Givens’ complaint alleges that he applied to join SWAT in December 2022 and, during several rounds of exams and testing, he posted some of the highest scores of all applicants. Despite those results, he was still denied a place on the team. Givens was later issued a right-to-sue notice by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after he filed a charge of discrimination there and with the Illinois Department of Human Rights.
CPD staffing records made public by the Office of Inspector General show 77 officers are currently assigned to SWAT. Of those, 50 are white, 22 are Latino, four are Asian, and one is Black. Across the Police Department, white officers account for about 40% of staffing, while Black officers account for 20%.
“The disparity between Black and (not-Black) applicants accepted to SWAT is too pervasive to be unintended,” Givens alleges.
CPD records show that Givens, 36, who joined the department in 2020, has been the subject of at least 20 misconduct complaints in his relatively short career. Of those, one was sustained, and Givens was issued a reprimand.
Soon after joining CPD — during the height of the George Floyd-related looting and unrest — Givens took the unusual step to publicly terminate his membership in the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, the union that represents rank-and-file CPD officers, detectives and retirees.
In leaving the union, Givens cited comments made by lodge President John Catanzara, who during a radio interview that summer said, “Any member of Lodge 7 who is going to take a knee and basically side with protesters while they’re in uniform will subject themselves to discipline in the lodge up to and including expulsion from Lodge 7.”
After quoting former British Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, Givens wrote in response to Catanzara:
“My job as a police officer shows me that the public wants and desires a healthy partnership with us. … The greatness of our city lies in its diversity. If Lodge 7 can realign their compass to that of the public we serve and its members I’d be happy to rejoin at a future date.”
Police staffing records show Givens is assigned as a field training officer, partnering with recent police academy graduates, in CPD’s Ogden (10th) District, which covers the Little Village and Lawndale neighborhoods.
In December 2021, Givens was working as a patrol officer on the South Side when a traffic stop led to an exchange of gunfire.
Givens and his partner attempted to stop a vehicle near 92nd Street and Stony Island Avenue. Prosecutors said it was the same Jeep SUV that the officers tried to pull over two days earlier. In a gas station parking lot, Givens was able to get into the vehicle’s back seat as the driver tried to pull away. Givens was shot in the leg.
Two suspects were also shot by police, and they each face attempted murder and other weapons charges, court records show. Each of their criminal cases remains pending.