A Chicago police sergeant has been stripped of his police powers after a video surfaced showing him threatening to assault a teenage boy and his father, then making contact with a 13-year-old girl who was filming the confrontation, sending her phone to the ground and leaving her in tears. The off-duty officer, identified as Sergeant Jeremy Sikorski, confronted a small group of teenagers on Chicago's Southwest Side, according to the Chicago Police Department.
The video was posted to social media by CWBChicago, and it shows Sikorski threatening to “knock out” a boy and his father before walking past the teenage girl recording the scene, according to the Chicago Tribune. Her phone was knocked to the ground during the encounter, and she later said the incident hurt her. The teenagers involved said they were trying to evade younger children who had made crude remarks to teenage girls, and they denied picking on the two younger kids.
CPD, COPA Both Launch Investigations
The Chicago Police Department opened an investigation into the video, which purports to show an off-duty sergeant profanely threatening teenagers and their families, per CPD. The department's Bureau of Internal Affairs also opened its own inquiry, while the Civilian Office of Police Accountability opened a separate investigation into the confrontation in Chicago's Southwest Side. Per CPD, the department has stripped Sikorski of his police powers and reassigned him to the Alternate Response Section. Sikorski did not respond to a request for comment from the Tribune.
Under CPD policy, officers relieved of police powers must immediately surrender their badge, service weapon, and department credentials, stripping them of authority to make arrests or wear a uniform, according to CBS News Chicago. The Alternate Response Section, known internally as Unit 376, handles nearly 500,000 non-emergency 311 and 911 calls and writes roughly 100,000 preliminary telephone reports each year, according to the City of Chicago. Officers assigned there remain on full city salary while their cases wind through investigation, sometimes for years.
A Long Disciplinary History
Sikorski has served with CPD since November 2003 and earned roughly $142,000 in pay in 2025 as a sergeant, per the Tribune. City inspector general records cited by the Tribune show he was subject to 22 other misconduct allegations during his career, with two of those allegations sustained. Separately, the Invisible Institute's Citizens Police Data Project has tracked 19 misconduct complaints and 27 use-of-force reports tied to Sikorski over his career, drawing on internal CPD complaint logs and force reports.
Sikorski was also previously named as a defendant in a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging false arrest, which resulted in an $80,000 settlement paid by the City of Chicago, according to city legal records cataloged by the Chicago Reporter. The city has spent more than $300 million settling police misconduct lawsuits in recent decades, a figure that underscores the financial stakes tied to repeat allegations against individual officers.
Southwest Side Under Scrutiny
The confrontation happened in the Clearing/Garfield Ridge area, part of CPD's 8th District, which ranks among the city's highest in 911 call volumes. The neighborhood has drawn heightened attention this month after Hoodline reported that a shooting near Mark Twain Elementary left two unresponsive just a day before the Sikorski video surfaced.
Formal discipline against Sikorski, if any, still faces a lengthy path. COPA can recommend penalties up to termination, but dismissal charges must ultimately be filed by Superintendent Larry Snelling or decided by the Chicago Police Board, per WTTW. An investigation by oversight outlet Unraveled Press found that at least 80 Chicago officers were relieved of their police powers between January and November 2024, with most landing in the Alternate Response Section while continuing to draw salaries, some for years amid union arbitration or pending court outcomes.
Sikorski's case follows a similar pattern to that of CPD Officer Roderick Hummons, who was stripped of his police powers and ordered to surrender his weapons in July after being arrested on a domestic battery charge following an off-duty altercation caught on video, as Hoodline reported in its piece on the officer's FaceTime battery arrest. Whether prosecutors will pursue criminal charges against Sikorski once COPA's preliminary findings are complete remains an open question.
