Chicago Police Accountability Task Force
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The Chicago Police Accountability Task Force is "a task force to review the system of accountability, oversight and training that is currently in place for Chicago's police officers."[1] It was announced via press release on December 1, 2015,[1] in the wake of the shooting of Laquan McDonald and the protests and political fallout afterward.[2] On April 13, 2016, the task force released its final report, which found "racism and systemic failures in the city's police force, validating complaints made for years by African-American residents."[3]
Members
The members of the task force include:[4][5]
- Deval Patrick - senior advisor
- Sergio Acosta – Partner at Hinshaw & Culbertson and a former federal prosecutor
- Joseph M. Ferguson – Inspector General of the City of Chicago
- Hiram Grau – Former director of the Illinois State Police and former Deputy Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department
- Lori Lightfoot – President of the Chicago Police Board
- Randolph N. Stone – University of Chicago Law School professor, director of the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Project Clinic and former Cook County Public Defender
Public community forums
The task force held 4 public community forums in February 2016 and one press event in April 2016 and published the meetings on YouTube.[6][7]
Final report
The final report used Chicago police data to show that African-Americans were regularly and disproportionately abused and denied rights, which had been reported by many African-American residents of Chicago over many years.[8][9][10] Chicago's population is approximately one-third black, Hispanic and white and according to the report, 404 people were shot by the Chicago police between 2008 and 2015 and 74 percent of those were African-American.[8] According to the New York Times, the final report "was blistering, blunt and backed up by devastating statistics."[8]
Reactions
As a result of the report, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced that he would be implementing roughly one-third of the 76 recommendations in the report.[11][12]
Dean Angelo, the president of Chicago's Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7,[13] declared the accusation of racism in the Chicago Police Department "biased".[14] Lori Lightfoot, who was on the task force, responded to Angelo:[15] "It is hard to fathom that Mr. Angelo maintains his reflexive, uninformed position when it is obviously belied by the facts. Does he really believe that a better trained, better prepared and more professional police force will not inure to the benefit of his members?"[16]
References
- 1 2 "City of Chicago :: Mayor Emanuel Announces Task Force on Police Accountability". CityOfChicago.org. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ↑ "Unpacking the Police Accountability Task Force Report". Wbez.org. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ↑ "Chicago Police Accountability Task Force Report". The New York Times. April 13, 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ↑ "Meet the members of Emanuel's new police accountability task force". WGN-TV. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
- ↑ "Chicago City Police Task Force Members". Chicagopatf.org. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
- ↑ Chicago Police Accountability Task Force. YouTube. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
- ↑ "EVENTS : TASK FORCE COMMUNITY FORUMS". Chicagopatf.org. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
- 1 2 3 "Chicago Police Dept. Plagued by Systemic Racism, Task Force Finds". The New York Times. April 14, 2016.
- ↑ "Inside the Chicago Police Department's race problem". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ↑ "Chicago police reforms". The Economist. April 23, 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ↑ "Chicago Police Department will implement task force reforms". ABC7 Chicago. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ↑ Josh Sanburn. "Chicago Police Reforms: Mayor Makes Some Changes but Not All". TIME.com. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ↑ "FOP President Dean Angelo Responds to Task Force Recommendations". Chicago Tonight - WTTW. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ↑ "Police union: Low morale will crater following 'biased' report". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ↑ "Lori Lightfoot: Dean Angelo 'Misses the Mark' on Task Force Recommendations". Chicago Tonight - WTTW. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ↑ "Fraternal Order Letter" (PDF). ChicagoTonight.WTTW.com. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
External links