Chicago’s interim police superintendent has demoted a commander whom the city’s inspector general accused of directing on-duty officers under him to babysit his son with special needs.
Interim Superintendent Charlie Beck’s demotion of Commander Anthony Escamilla to captain on Tuesday is one of the first moves by Beck after Mayor Lori Lightfoot made her stunning announcement Monday that she was firing Superintendent Eddie Johnson because she said he lied to her about his behavior the night in October when he was found asleep in his running vehicle.
The Chicago Tribune reports that the demotion comes nearly a year after Inspector General Joseph Ferguson’s office recommended the possible firing of Escamilla. At the time, Johnson chose instead to suspend Escamilla for seven days.
