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Three years after the release of the “Somebody” podcast, the city of Chicago continues to block the release of the full Inspector General’s report investigating the police response to the murder of Courtney Copeland. In this updated episode, Shaippurl-Wells discusses a summary of the findings of the publicly available report, calling for full transparency.
[“Somebody” theme music: “Everybody’s Something” by Chance the Rapper featuring Saba and BJ the Chicago Kid.]
Shape Pearl Wells: Hi Shape Pearl. “Somebody” was released about three years ago. A lot has happened in Courtney’s case since then. So, we wanted to make sure we were up to date with the latest information.
Since this podcast was published, one of Kourtney’s sisters has gotten married. And she is now a grandmother of two. The name of one is Josiah and the name of the other is Justus.
[Audio of Shapearl with her grandson.]
SW: say i love you
just: I love you.
SW: I love you so much, Justus.
SW: As a family, we’ve been to places that Courtney would love.
[Music playing on a boat.]
SW: Dear Facebook, we are on a cruise. Go Jasmine! go, Alex.
SW: We had a lot of fun, but I always thought about Courtney in the back. Because I know that’s what he likes.
SW:The water here is so beautiful. [Music and laughter in the background.]
SW: Every year, the Courtney Copeland Memorial Foundation Celebration is held.
[Audio from gala of DJ talking and music playing.]
Lenny Faulkner: I am Courtney Copeland’s grandmother. We still want justice for Kourtney and that’s our focus right now. Find out who did this to him, change the policy of the Chicago Police Department, and even change the law regarding hospitalization of gunshot victims. We need change.
SW: This is my husband, Brent.
Brent Wells: It’s like a club no one wants to be in, but the sad reality is that we’re in it, but let’s support each other and get through this together.
SW: Thanks to “Somebody” many people became interested in his story.
[Montage of voicemail messages.]
Caller 1: May my prayers reach you all. I hope you find peace of mind and know that his son Kourtney is smiling and watching everything you’ve done for his son.
Caller 2: i love this woman Please tell her to keep up her good work. I admire her. And may God bless her and her family.
Caller 3: I just wanted to let you know that I can hear you wherever you are. I hear your voice We hear your son’s story and heartbreak.
Caller 4: I speak on behalf of my family. My oldest sister was murdered in 1989. And I really appreciated the honesty of the podcast and the openness this family shared.
Caller 5: Sharing this story raises awareness. I hope she knows there are many who will support her, think of her, and continue to fight for the racial injustice that is happening here in her city of ours. There are people all over the world who want to fight with you.
[NBC “Dateline” interview.]
Josh Mankiewicz [NBC “Dateline”]: Do you understand that very few murder victim families in this country believe the police are doing enough? We would love to see everyone try harder.
SW: Believe it or not, I was also on the Date Line.
south wales [on “Dateline”]: I don’t think many families have access to the evidence I had.
SW: I was able to tell the whole world what happened to Kourtney that night. Even local stations like Channel 11 highlighted Courtney’s story, thanks to the exposure that “date line” gave us.
yay: Shape pearls are more than just good[s] She wants to know who killed her son, but why the Chicago police didn’t try harder to help her wounded son and why she was handcuffed after calling the police for help. I would also like to know if he died.
SW: Inspector General of the City of Chicago [IG] I actually investigated the case to see if the Chicago police did what they were supposed to do.
Bill Healy: May I speak for a minute just about the Inspector General’s report? Strange, everything is strange.
SW: It’s not weird. I think it’s very strategic.
BH: whose side are you on?
SW: CPD [Chicago Police Department].
SW: So, inspector general report The one that came out about a year ago. His four-paragraph summary contained important information. Much of what our research found was validated. Without a doubt, it was written that Courtney Copeland was handcuffed by Chicago police.
It also said that the person who handcuffed him had to be in the ambulance and was not, violating CPD policy.
The inspector recommended that the sergeant be reprimanded for his conduct. However, the police said:
BH: The CPD said it disagreed with the overwhelming evidence the Office of the Inspector General had established that the victim was in fact handcuffed before being taken to the hospital. How did you read it, how did you feel when you read it?
SW: I was pissed. I was literally upset. What I mean is that you robbed my son of all his dignity in the last moments of his life. You made a mistake, and almost six years later I still can’t admit it.
SW: So basically, IG was aware that Kourtney was indeed handcuffed. But the CPD denies that fact to this day.
And instead of reprimanding the sergeant, he gave him a brief reprimand. They didn’t take him out of the force. They didn’t let him work at the desk. they reprimanded him.
Another thing the IG report highlighted was the treatment I received from the police department detectives. Do you remember this?
SW: Now, I have a few questions here.
Detective Anthony Amato: No no. No, you say many things. Please tell me one thing.
SW: Yes, I’m going to give you –
AA: Please tell me one thing.
SW: I was offended by the way they treated me. Because I am a grieving mother here asking what happened to her son and yet I was treated this way.
AA: It doesn’t matter if you thank me or say fuck me when all this is over. it doesn’t matter.
SW: No, that’s my goal, so I’ll be sure to thank you. I want to know why my 22 year old son was killed —
AA: Me too. Me too.
SW: — For no apparent reason.
AA: So am I. But when it comes to this black, brown, and green shit, I don’t care.
SW: IG agreed that I was being neglected. But by the time they said so, the detective had already retired.
IG said the detective should not be rehired if he attempts to reenlist in the Chicago Police Department. And they tried to put it in his file. But guess what? CPD also denied it.
Now I’m going to pass this on to Alison so she can give me a further update.
Hi Alison.
Alison Flowers: Hey Shape Pearl. As you know, there was one thing that could have many beneficial effects from this report. That’s a policy change recommended by the Inspector General based on the very circumstances of Courtney’s death.
This may seem like common sense, but the recommendations are: The ministry should review its policy on first aid and hospital transport for injured people encountered.
Remember the podcast “Scoop and Run”?
[Clip from episode 7 of a person shouting “scoop…”]
of: Lives are saved when police officers scoop up injured people and take them to the hospital. But when Courtney died, all police had to do was call an ambulance. That’s the bare minimum, and that’s exactly what they did.
If this is to be believed, in 2016 police could only provide first aid to people they shot themselves, not people like Courtney who came with gunshot wounds.
SW: I can’t believe they have a choice.
of: The CPD has agreed to review policy on all of these matters exposed by the Inspector General. However, the ministry appears to have taken no steps to update anything.
yay: A grieving mother is searching for answers and a full report by the city inspector regarding the murder of her 22-year-old son, Courtney Copeland.
of: And most of all, Shapepur wants to know who handcuffed Kourtney.
The city’s law firm declined to provide the full report. It’s like a black hole where investigations go undercover. ShapePearl got a final rejection a few weeks ago.
SW: It’s Sunday morning. I’m sitting here at the dining room table. It took me a while before I thought about actually recording anything because I was so exhausted by not knowing the truth about what had happened to my son.
[CBS News clip.]
CBS Anchor 1: Officially, Chicago has elected a new mayor.
CBS Anchor 2: Progressive Democrat Brandon Johnson defeated fellow Democrat Paul Vallas in a close runoff. He will now take the seat of Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
of: Shapepearl has been feeling more hopeful in recent weeks. Because Chicago is going through a big change. Brandon Johnson is a former teacher and county commissioner, and Shapepur campaigned for him.
of: Hey, shape pearl!
south wales: Hi Alison, how are you?
of: i’m good. how are you?
of: As soon as I heard that Johnson had promised to drop the Inspector General’s investigation, I called ShapePearl.
SW: love to hear that. That is wonderful.
of: know! [Laughs.] After all this struggle, all that is needed is for the new mayor to promise so in a survey.
SW: It’s very important for the public that we actually release this information and give us all the details, not only for me but also for other cases they are covering up. I think it’s very important to clarify what’s really going on in Chicago.
SW: I would also like to tell you about another development.
SW: So I’m sitting in the car just before I meet the new Sergeant in charge of Courtney’s case.
SW: Courtney’s case is now out of the Open Cases Department.
of: Ok, back to the car.
SW: Yes, and this was my first time meeting with CPD, and I can say that they actually heard the details of the incident and what we did in their investigation. So I hope.
I think they understand that I’m not going anywhere and that I’m going to keep moving forward and try to win justice for Courtney.
Well, he asked me three or four times if we were recording. [Laughs.]
of: No, we are not.
SW: I was like, “You think we’re recording.” He was worried about using hot mics. This is Sergeant Keller. He was very careful with what he said and how he said it. He basically just listened. But you know, there was no need to record the police. I should have been treated with dignity and respect. They didn’t expect me to be the type of parent who kept asking questions and following up. And I’ve made it clear to Keller and Perez that I’m going to confront them in your face. you have this case now. What I want: follow up. …
SW: That was a year ago, but I can tell you that detectives have been giving me regular updates on Courtney’s case. In fact, he even re-interviewed some of the people we interviewed during the podcast. So now I feel hopeful that maybe in the future we might get some answers.
I don’t know if Courtney gets justice. But I know I will never stop fighting for justice for him. And I will keep fighting till my last breath.
[“Somebody” theme music.]
We look forward to hearing from you.
Email us at [email protected] Or leave a voicemail at 773-270-0121.
“Someone” means Co-produced by Topic Studios, The Intercept, The Invisible Institute, iHeartRadio and Tenderfoot TV.
This bonus episode was produced by Alison Flowers, Elisa Apantak, Bill Healy and Sarah Geis.
The Invisible Institute has Jamie Calven as Executive Producer.
At Topic Studios, Kristi Gressman serves as Executive Producer.
In The Intercept, Roger HodgeSupervising producer and editor-in-chief.
Legal review by David Bralow and sSpecial thanks to Laura Flynn.
Sound design and mix by Cocoon Audio’s Bart Warshaw.
And the theme music is by Chance the Rapper.
The original music for this podcast is by Social Experiment’s Eric Butler and Nate Fox.
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