Chicago Police Seek To Block Hiring Of Glenview Man Accused Of Hate Crime

CHICAGO, IL — The City of Chicago and the head of the Chicago Police Department have asked a judge to block a Glenview man from a list of potential police officers eligible to attend the academy.

In a petition filed Monday in Cook County Circuit Court, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson asked a judge to review a decision by Chicago's Human Resources Board to allow Patrick Lavin, a 27-year-old Glenview resident, to be hired as a probationary Chicago police officer, citing a 2011 arrest.

Lavin was charged with felony aggravated battery, battery and a hate crime after a fight outside a bar in Carbondale in 2011. He said the group of people he was with got into an argument over who a taxicab belonged to, which escalated into a shoving match and an eventual exchange of blows, according to the filing.

Court records show the felony charges were dropped and the incident was expunged from Lavin's record after he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery. (Sign up for our free daily newsletters and breaking news alerts for the Glenview Patch.)

Lavin was initially charged with a hate crime because one of the people involved was gay, although he said he never knew the sexual orientation of anyone involved, according to a report by a hearing officer of the Human Resources board. He was sentenced to an anger management evaluation and a year of court supervision, the Chicago Tribune reported.

But Johnson and lawyers representing the city argue the facts disqualify Lavin from being eligible to serve as a probationary officer. CPD policy states that "if there is evidence that the applicant has engaged in criminal conduct, even if the applicant was never convicted of any criminal offense," then the applicant should be disqualified from consideration, the filing said.

Lavin challenged his disqualification, and on March 6 an administrative hearing officer agreed with him that Chicago's lawyers had failed to prove that he had engaged in "conduct constituting a felony." Monday's filing seeks to overturn that ruling.

Lavin could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

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