A Chicago police officer on the verge of retirement after more than two decades on the job was found dead Monday in a North Side police station in an apparent suicide, officials said.
Officer James Daly had been a Chicago cop since October 1999 and was assigned to the Town Hall patrol district, covering communities including Lakeview, Lincoln Park, and Uptown.
The 47-year-old officer was found shot to death in a locker room at the Town Hall station, 850 W. Addison St., early Monday, law enforcement sources said. The Cook County medical examiner’s office said Daly was pronounced dead shortly before 3 a.m.
“He was a respected and dedicated 21-year veteran, and a friend to many in the Chicago Police Department,” police Superintendent David Brown said in a statement. “Today, I mourn alongside everyone in the department. His loss is deeply felt by me and his many colleagues with whom he worked for many years.
“Our deepest condolences go out to his family and friends who are now grieving over this unimaginable loss. Please keep his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers.”
Sources said Daly, who worked the overnight shift, had been expected to retire this week.
Daly’s death comes about seven months after a high-ranking Chicago police official, Dion Boyd, was found shot to death by suicide in his office in the Homan Square police facility on the West Side.
Daly’s body will undergo an autopsy at the medical examiner’s office Tuesday. If the office determines officially that he died by a suicide, Daly would be at least the 10th Chicago police officer to take his own life since 2018.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot, in an unrelated news conference, said she didn’t have a lot of details about the officer’s death but spoke about available resources to help people who are struggling.
“The sad reality is that trauma and depression are with us all the time. Unfortunately, that has been exacerbated through the (COVID-19) pandemic for a host of reasons,” Lightfoot said.
For suicides in general, Lightfoot said, “we need to make sure we destigmatize depression and trauma, that we emphasize for folks the array of resources that are available across the city. “We’ve placed a premium on making sure the city is doing a better job in providing those resources on a neighborhood level,” she also said.
“Make no mistake about it, this pandemic has taken an incalculable toll, particularly on people’s mental health,” Lightfoot said. “We want to make sure people reach out. Call 311. Call 911. There’s an array of services that we offer as a city to safeguard your privacy and your security. But if you’re feeling suicidal, please reach out. You are not in this by yourself.”
The Chicago Police Department’s problem with officer suicides was highlighted in a 2017 report by the U.S. Justice Department regarding the city’s policing practices. At that time, one Chicago police official told the Justice Department that CPD’s suicide rate was higher than the national average among police.
The Justice Department probe found that CPD’s Employee Assistance Program was overwhelmed, with just three counselors trying to provide services to the more than 12,000-strong police department. Now, CPD has more than 10 such clinicians per a requirement of a federal mandated consent decree to improve the city’s policing practices.
