Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Chicago moves to ease tensions with police using new civilian oversight panel
Source: Politico
The Chicago City Council gave its blessing to a new civilian commission Wednesday overseeing the Chicago Police Department, a move that, in principle, has been decades in the making while aimed at improving transparency and rebuilding a trust frayed by episodes of misconduct.
Creating the seven-member panel is a product of years of frustrations and heartache etched into the public's mind with victims like Laquan McDonald and Anjanette Young, and cops such as Jon Burge and Ronald Watts, who abused their authority.
“If the communities do not trust [police] because they’re not legitimate to them, they will not be effective in their most core mission — which is serving and protecting every single resident of the city,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in an impassioned speech that wrapped up two hours of testimony on the proposal.
Passage of the police-oversight ordinance is a feather in the mayor's cap, who for years has talked about civilian oversight — even if she pulled back on an earlier version of the proposal.
Creating the seven-member panel is a product of years of frustrations and heartache etched into the public's mind with victims like Laquan McDonald and Anjanette Young, and cops such as Jon Burge and Ronald Watts, who abused their authority.
“If the communities do not trust [police] because they’re not legitimate to them, they will not be effective in their most core mission — which is serving and protecting every single resident of the city,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in an impassioned speech that wrapped up two hours of testimony on the proposal.
Passage of the police-oversight ordinance is a feather in the mayor's cap, who for years has talked about civilian oversight — even if she pulled back on an earlier version of the proposal.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2021/07/22/historic-police-reform-ag-garland-visiting-chicago-to-gamble-on-gambling-493693
