Police sergeant says department retaliated after he blew the whistle on supervisor

A Chicago police sergeant who filed a complaint against a supervisor who'd assigned several officers to guard his Bridgeport home during the riots and looting last year filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming he's been the victim of whistleblower retaliation.

Sgt. Marc Vanek was part of a narcotics unit that investigated online drug and gun sales. But in the spring of 2020, he and other officers from his team had gathered outside Guaranteed Rate Field, which served as a staging area from which cops were being deployed to address looting and other social unrest.

Vanek learned that his boss, Lt. Jason Brown, had assigned several officers to guard his home about a block away from the ballpark and decided to confront him about it.

The suit alleges Vanek was subjected to retaliation for speaking out. Vanek was removed from his role as head of the Internet Narcotics Enforcement Team and was assigned to an overnight shift patrolling a high-crime neighborhood on the West Side.

A police spokesman said Tuesday that the department doesn't comment on pending lawsuits.

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