Mcdermott Case Study

On August 28, 2014 Detective Timothy McDermott was facing charges that accused him of violating Chicago Police Department Rules 2, 6, 8, and 38. These rules regard to bringing discredit to the Chicago Police Department, impeding the department’s efforts to achieve its goals, failing to ensure a person’s right to have dignified treatment under the law, failing to treat a person with respect and dignity, disrespecting or maltreatment of a person while on or off duty, and unlawful and unnecessary display of a gun. The only evidence presented at the hearing was a copy of a photograph that depicted Detective McDermott and another CPD officer posing with an African American male. Detective McDermott was kneeled next to the African American male while …show more content…
The defense relied on trying to discredit the photograph as well as numerous witnesses attesting to Detective McDermott’s character and professional work on the police force. The defense tried to discredit the photo by claiming Detective McDermott and the African American male could be friends, the male could have been a fellow officer, as well as saying the angle of the photograph and not knowing the context of the photograph could be causing the situation to be misconstrued. Additionally, the defense tried to argue that the Superintendent’s claims that Detective McDermott was posing with the man as if he were a hunted deer, were based solely on the fact that the man was African American. The defense argued that if the man had been Caucasian that this hearing would not be occurring. Other seemingly impossible circumstances were being speculated by the defense as well. Defense claimed there was no proof that the weapons in the photograph were in fact guns or weapons at all. An additional claim was that the photograph may have been doctored, or that the African American male had been part of a Christmas pageant and that the antlers had been apart of his costume. Lastly, defense stated the picture could have been from a hunting