In 2019, Chicago police burst into Anjanette Young’s apartment, left her naked and handcuffed, and kept searching even as she pleaded that they had the wrong home. The body-camera footage went viral and became a symbol of how ugly a bad raid can get. Now, the social worker whose trauma helped fuel a reform push is on the verge of joining the very panel that watches over the Chicago Police Department.
Mayor Brandon Johnson has nominated Young to one of the seven positions on the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, according to a CCPSA press release. The commission writes policies that govern CPD and can weigh in on who leads the department. A City Council committee backed Young’s nomination in a 14-2 vote, setting up a full Council decision at City Hall, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times.
From raid to reform
Police executed a search warrant at Young’s home in February 2019. Body-camera footage later showed her unclothed and handcuffed for nearly 10 minutes while officers went through her apartment even as she repeatedly told them they had the wrong place. The incident helped push Chicago’s debate over no-knock warrants and raid tactics into high gear. In 2021, the city approved a $2.9 million settlement with Young, according to WBEZ. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability later finished its investigation into the raid, according to a COPA report.
City debate turns sharp
Young’s nomination has not exactly produced a calm, kumbaya moment at City Hall. Aldermen and reform advocates quickly split over whether someone who went through what she did can also sit in judgment of the police.
Some City Council members pressed Young on public remarks she made about other police shootings. Others argued that her anger is understandable and, if anything, overdue. Local coverage quotes Ald. Silvana Tabares questioning Young over her statement that officers returned “excessive” fire in a 2024 shooting, while Ald. Andre Vasquez defended Young. Ald. Derrick Curtis, for his part, warned, “it’s not fun when the rabbit has the gun,” according to the Chicago Tribune.
Young has told officials that “my lived experience does not compromise my ability to be fair,” adding that what happened to her “strengthens” her sense of justice, remarks she has repeated in interviews and public appearances, according to WBEZ. She has also pushed a namesake bill that would ban no-knock warrants and sharply limit when officers can point guns at children. That legislation is still sitting in the Illinois House Rules Committee, per reporting by WBEZ.
What happens next
The full City Council ultimately voted 13-3 to approve Young’s appointment, according to the Chicago Tribune. That makes her one of seven commissioners who help shape Chicago’s public-safety oversight policies. The CCPSA release notes that she will take the seat once the current commissioner’s term expires in June.
Her arrival on the commission is widely seen as a test of how fast City Hall can turn high-profile reform talk into binding rules. Local coverage points to some changes in CPD’s warrant policies, but not a full ban on no-knock entries, as noted by WTTW.
Whether Young’s appointment leads to sweeping policy changes is an open question. What is clear is that a prominent critic of CPD is now on the inside of the city’s oversight machinery. For now, Young’s nomination closes one chapter of a fraught story and opens another, with the commission itself becoming the arena for the reforms she has been demanding for years.
