A teenage employee in the Chicago Police Department quietly resigned after dressing in a German-style military uniform, goose-stepping across a high school stage and throwing a Nazi-style salute, according to the city’s watchdog. The Office of Inspector General said the performance clearly evoked Nazi Germany and concluded the conduct brought discredit on the department. The fallout has already cost at least one other CPD employee their job for circulating images of the stunt at work.
What the watchdog found
In a recent quarterly report, the Office of Inspector General detailed an investigation that confirmed a then CPD employee, who was a minor at the time, wore a German military-style uniform, marched across a high school stage and saluted. “The uniform, march and salute created the impression that the individual was evoking Nazi Germany,” the report stated. The watchdog said that if the teen had not resigned, it would have recommended firing and placement on the city’s ineligible-for-rehire list, according to the Office of Inspector General's quarterly report.
Discipline and workplace fallout
The investigation did not stop with the teen. The watchdog also found that a separate CPD member created an offensive work environment by showing photos of the teen in the uniform while on duty and later gave a false statement during the inquiry. That employee was fired. Both former members will be placed on the city’s ineligible-for-rehire list, and a senior CPD employee received a reprimand for failing to report the misconduct, according to WTTW News.
How teens enter the CPD pipeline
The case shines a light on just how young some workers connected to CPD can be. While sworn officers must be at least 21, the department runs recruitment and training tracks for late teens and young adults. City postings show the Police Cadet program is open to younger applicants, and CPD materials describe a “Path to Policing” cohort that teams up with colleges to prepare would-be recruits for entrance exams and training, according to the City job posting and CPD's public materials.
Echoes of a 2022 controversy
The watchdog’s report does not say when or where the incident took place, but Chicago has seen something strikingly similar before. In November 2022, a Jones College Prep student wore what many described as a Nazi-style uniform, goosestepped and gave a Nazi salute during a school event. The uproar that followed led to protests and ultimately the principal’s removal, according to ABC7 Chicago.
Political backdrop
The findings land at a moment when City Hall is already trying to clamp down on extremist ties in the police ranks. In May, the City Council voted to prohibit officers from “actively participating” in extremist organizations, a move that sets the ground rules for how CPD and oversight agencies will handle future allegations tied to far-right symbols or recruiting, WTTW News reported.
What comes next
The Office of Inspector General has urged CPD to impose discipline that matches the seriousness of the misconduct and to work with the Department of Human Resources to formally mark the former employees as ineligible for rehire. CPD told the watchdog it would place the former employee on that ineligible list, according to the Office of Inspector General's quarterly report. The episode leaves lingering questions about how closely CPD supervises youth-focused programs feeding its hiring pipeline and whether tighter safeguards are needed to stop similar incidents before they reach the stage, literally or figuratively.
