Chicago cop gets 9-month suspension for 'improper sexual relationship' with 911 caller

CHICAGO - A police officer who had sex with a woman after he responded to a 911 call at her home in 2016 will be suspended for nine months, the Chicago Police Board decided in a vote Thursday.

In an 8-1 vote, Officer Daniel Otero was found guilty of "engaging in an improper sexual relationship while off-duty" and suspended for 270 days without pay.

The woman came forward years after the incident and accused Otero of sexually assaulting her, according to the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.

COPA ruled that there was not enough evidence to prove the sexual assault allegations, but the oversight agency and former Chicago Police Supt. David Brown had both recommended that Otero be fired.

The only sustained allegation in the case centered on Otero engaging in an "improper sexual relationship" with the woman.

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Otero showed "remarkably poor judgment," and his actions undermine public confidence in the department because residents might hesitate to call police if they are afraid that an officer will later attempt to engage in a sexual relationship with them when they "may feel vulnerable," according to the written ruling on the decision.

The woman declined to participate in the disciplinary hearings this year and didn’t testify, according to the ruling.

The woman, who was 22 at the time, had claimed that Otero, a 19-year veteran of the department, had returned to her studio apartment after his shift, had drinks with her and then sexually assaulted her, COPA said in a report issued in May of last year.

The police oversight agency noted that the woman and Otero gave conflicting accounts of what happened, with the officer arguing that she was "an active participant."

According to COPA, on April 3, 2016, the woman called 911 around 3 a.m. to report a Peeping Tom who was in her room holding a cellphone and staring at her. She ran to a neighbor’s home, where she called police, reporting that her cellphone, wallet and purse had been stolen after she had apparently left her door unlocked.

Otero and another officer in the Near North District responded to the call.

During an interview with COPA and police investigators on Jan. 28, 2019, the woman said Otero had offered to come back to help around the apartment. He later asked for her email address because her phone had been taken, she said.

Otero emailed a few hours later and came over, she said. As they shared a few drinks, she said Otero showed off his gun. She was already feeling drunk when he "guided" her to the bed, she told the investigators. She alleged he then had sex with her without her consent.

Otero told a different story, insisting that she had told him to reach out after work, COPA said. He said they had a "casual conversation" at her apartment that eventually led to them having sex.

The woman and Otero continued to exchange emails for a period of months until she stopped responding and they never met again, the written ruling states.

Meanwhile, police suspended a separate review because they didn’t believe the case "met the requirements for a criminal investigation," COPA said.

The only member to vote against the suspension was Board President Ghian Foreman. In his dissent, he wrote that a higher level of disciplinary action was justified in the case.

Contributing: Tom Schuba