14th District Oath Keeper cop interfered with DCFS investigation, removed from SWAT for unknown incident

A Chicago Police officer on the widely publicized Oath Keepers list appears to have a misconduct record lengthier than previously described. 

Sergeant Michael Nowacki, new to the Northwest Side police district as of August 2023, was also previously removed from the CPD SWAT team—for what he describes in a 2020 social media post as an alcohol-related incident.

The Oath Keepers played an instrumental role in executing former President Donald Trump’s attempt to halt the counting of electoral votes certifying the 2020 presidential election. 

Birthed in the right-wing milieu of racist conspiracy theories following President Barack Obama’s election, the organization believes “the government is secretly planning, along with foreign countries and the United Nations, to impose martial law, seize all Americans’ guns, force resisters into concentration camps and install a one-world totalitarian government known as the ‘New World Order.’”

Members of the group, whose leaders heavily recruit from veterans and law enforcement, were seen using military style tactics to breach the U.S. Capitol on January 6. 

A report released Tuesday by Chicago’s watchdog agency, the Office of Inspector General (OIG), found the police department’s internal investigation into the accused officers’ Oath Keeper ties insufficient. The Bureau of Internal Affairs (BIA) probe conducted by CPD consisted solely of short interviews with the individual cops. Assisted by legal counsel, the officers denied any influence by the group’s ideology or associations with known members. 

A 2023 Chicago Sun-Times/WBEZ investigation outlines a sprawling web of allegations against the CPD officers who joined an official membership roll for the Oath Keepers. The leaked list, which includes personal identifying info like full names and credit card numbers, includes police across Illinois from additional law enforcement agencies. A number of firefighters also signed up to join the organization. Three remain on active duty with the Chicago Fire Department.

As detailed in that investigation, Sergeant Nowacki was suspended for three days in 2008 after sending insulting, racially charged emails to a Black community member in Englewood who was soliciting donations for area families. Rather than serve the suspension, Nowacki forfeited three days of banked compensatory time.

Records detailing a December 2020 incident, however, also illustrate his disturbing animosity on duty toward a Department of Child and Family Services worker. The worker, identified as a Black male, filed a complaint after a well-being check where Nowacki was belligerent. 

The social services worker had called police for help with temporarily removing two toddlers from a home after parents became uncooperative. An ongoing DCFS investigation pointed to signs of neglect or abuse. According to the complaint, Nowacki began hassling him immediately upon arrival. He demanded and ran his driver’s license before ordering other police officers to stand down and not assist DCFS without a court order. 

State law does not mandate a court order be in place to take children into temporary custody. 

In his interview with investigators, Nowacki claimed he “could not recall” the incident. 

A recording of the encounter captured a voice—likely Nowacki’s—saying, “I have been doing this for twenty years, I am not stupid.”

BIA sustained allegations of neglect of duty and operation/personnel violations against Nowacki for his encounter with DCFS. It is unclear what disciplinary action he faced as a consequence, if any.

Like other right-wing anti-government groups, Oath Keepers members have some history of clashing with child protective services (CPS). Wild notions about government plots to steal kids from their parents colored the childhood of Oath Keeper founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes’ family. Rhodes’ son Dakota Adams told The Guardian he and his siblings “had to conceal educational and medical neglect.” According to his father, CPS was “the tool of the new world order that would be used to retaliate against Stewart for defying them.”

Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in the January 6 putsch.

In 2010, the Oath Keepers protested outside a child custody hearing in New Hampshire involving one of their members. 

Police officers and veterans in the organization authored a letter to the state demanding their organization name be removed from court documents. They describe CPS as having “great latitude and power,” and accuse the New Hampshire Division of Children, Youth and Family (NHDCYF) of politicizing child abuse. 

In that letter, Oath Keepers members also insisted they are not, as described by NHDCYF, a militia.

Sergeant Nowacki has faced investigation for a number of other incidents over the years. 

Most recently, BIA sustained a 2022 complaint received from a civilian alleging Nowacki and another officer failed to respond to her 911 calls about being stalked. Jinx Press has not yet received an update on possible disciplinary recommendations.

He was suspended for five days in 2023 after BIA sustained allegations of abusive social media comments directed at other officers. According to police records, it appears he may have again forfeited time off in lieu of serving a suspension. Previously, in March 2021, internal investigators also sustained allegations of other derogatory social media comments about department members.

Jinx Press verified screenshots of additional social media posts from a Facebook account belonging to Nowacki. 

One post, authored on November 14, 2020, describes being fired from his assignment as a SWAT Sergeant. 

“Of course, 2020 sucked for everyone…but in addition to that, on May 26th, my alcoholism and poor decision-making led to me being removed from the SWAT Team, a group of the finest men I have ever served with.” Nowacki wrote. “[…] On June 23rd, alcohol got the better of me, I hit rock-bottom, and I went to rehab at St. Michael’s House.”

St. Michael’s House is a specialized addiction detox and treatment center dedicated to law enforcement. The AMITA Health-operated rehab is named after the patron saint of police officers. A short drive from O’Hare Airport, the center serves police officers with substance abuse disorders from across the country. 

Nowacki does not describe further what the May 26 incident entailed, and no complaints were logged with either BIA or the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA). Jinx Press has filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with CPD in an attempt to gather more information. Police attendance records show Nowacki went on medical leave May 27. 

In another comment chain from the same time period, before COVID-19 vaccines were available, Nowacki wrote that he wasn’t wearing a mask in public because he was “trying to get the Rona.”

One other investigation into Nowacki remains open: a 2021 BIA probe initiated by a district accountability sergeant that alleges he kicked in a woman’s door, allowing another individual to enter.

CPD, who also previously declined to fire Proud Boy cop Robert Bakker despite the OIG’s urging, has refused to pursue further investigation into the active duty officers on the Oath Keepers membership list. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson reiterated his administration’s commitment to rooting out extremism within CPD this week in the wake of the OIG report release, but has seemingly rejected their recommendation for convening a specialized task force to do so. 

Nine Chicago Police officers were initially investigated for signing up with the Oath Keepers. Officer Phillip Singto retired in April. In addition to Sergeant Nowacki, seven others remain on duty. Their current assignments are as follows: 

Detective Anthony Keany (Financial Crimes Section), Alberto Retamozo (17th District, Community Policing Sergeant), Matthew Bracken (15th District, Strategic Decision Support Officer), Bienvenido Acevedo (24th District, Beat Officer), Dennis Mack (Public Transportation Officer, O’Hare), Detective Alexander Kim (Area 3, Violent Crimes), and John Nicezyporuk (Training and Support Group).