City needs to back up the coppers or else......everything could collapse

Fired CPD officer Robert Rialmo files lawsuit to get his job back
Rialmo shot and killed Quintonio LeGrier and Bettie Jones in 2015. His attorneys argue that the Chicago Police Board’s decision to terminate him was “contrary to law and sound public opinion.”
By Sam Charles Nov 21, 2019, 1:00pm CST


Robert Rialmo arriving for a court hearing at the Daley Center in May 2018. Max Herman/For the Sun-Times



A month after he was fired, former Chicago Police Officer Robert Rialmo this week filed a lawsuit to get his job back .

Rialmo’s attorneys argue that the Chicago Police Board’s decision to terminate him was “contrary to law and sound public opinion” and was “arbitrary, capricious and unrelated to the requirements of service.”

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, is asking for a Cook County judge to reverse the board’s decision and reinstate Rialmo with back pay. The first hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled in March.

The board — the body that metes out discipline for police officers — voted unanimously last month to terminate Rialmo, 30, for his role in the fatal December 2015 shooting of Bettie Jones, 55, in the 4700 block of West Erie.

Rialmo also shot and killed 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier, who was in the midst of a mental health episode and charged at Rialmo with an aluminum baseball bat. The charges brought against Rialmo by Supt. Eddie Johnson did not relate to the killing of LeGrier, only Jones.Bettie Jones and Quintonio LeGrier. Provided photos

“Upon examination of the facts of this case, the Board finds that when Officer Rialmo fired his gun in the direction of Bettie Jones, he had the ability to safely reposition himself even farther than he already had from Mr. LeGrier,” the board said in announcing its decision. “Had Officer Rialmo done so, he could have neutralized the threat posed by Quintonio LeGrier, and Bettie Jones would be alive today.”

Martin Preib, the 2nd Vice President of the Fraternal Order of Police, the union representing rank-and-file CPD officers, said the board made “a despicable, depraved and cowardly decision” that would endanger police officers across the city.