RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Following the release of video of the shooting of Laquan McDonald, Mayor Emanuel initiated a review of the Chicago Police Department and the Independent Police Review Authority by establishing the Police Accountability Task Force. Mayor Emanuel charged the Task Force with assessing the Department and making recommendations for change in the areas of community relations; oversight and accountability; early intervention and personnel concerns; and video release protocols; and
WHEREAS, Six days after Mayor Emanuel appointed the Police Accountability Task Force, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois began a joint investigation of the City of Chicago's Police Department and the Independent Police Review Authority; and
WHEREAS, The Joint Investigation was conducted with the full and open cooperation of the City and the Department. The Joint Investigation assessed the Department's use of force and evaluated polices, training, reporting, investigation, and reviews related to officer use of force, as well as the Department's and IPRA's systems of accountability. The Joint Investigation further addressed racial, ethnic, and other disparities in the Department's force and accountability practices, and assessed how those disparities related to the community's diminished trust in the Department; and
WHEREAS, The Police Accountability Task Force actively engaged the community by meeting with a broad and diverse range of subject matter experts, organizations, law enforcement, and residents of the City, as well as conducting community forums and allowing residents to submit their experiences and suggestions by letter, through the Task Force's website, and through social media, all to ensure that its findings and recommendations were based on input from all parts of the City; and
WHEREAS, On April 13, 2016, the Police Accountability Task Force issued a report containing comprehensive findings and recommendations to rebuild trust between the Department and the communities it serves. These recommendations called for improving transparency and accountability within the Department and its oversight agencies, including reforms to civilian oversight of the Chicago Police Department, such as the replacement of IPRA with a new civilian police oversight agency, the establishment of an inspector general for public safety, and the creation of a community safety oversight board; and
WHEREAS, On April 21, 2016, Mayor Emanuel and Superintendent Johnson announced the immediate implementation of nearly one-third ofthe recommendations contained in the report, and developed an action plan to undertake implementation of the remaining recommendations; and
WHEREAS, On January 13, 2017, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois issued a report on the Joint Investigation of the Department. This Report identified several areas in which the Department and the City could improve police services to the community, including many areas previously identified in the Task Force report;
WHEREAS, The Justice Department's Report acknowledged that the City and the Department are committed to reform, identifying as significant achievements the creation of the new Civilian Office of Police Accountability to replace IPRA, and establishment of a Deputy
Inspector General for Public Safety to audit the entire police accountability system and identify patterns of conduct that violate residents' constitutional rights; and
WHEREAS, The Report further acknowledges the additional work that the City and the Department have undertaken, such as establishing a transparency policy that mandates the release of videos and other materials related to certain officer misconduct investigations; committing to development of an anonymous hotline for Department members to report misconduct; embarking on an ambitious process to develop an early intervention system for officers needing additional training; and the development of a draft disciplinary matrix to guide the Department in assigning appropriate discipline for misconduct; and
WHEREAS, The Report also identifies as further evidence of the City's and Department's commitment to police reform the expansion and accelerated rollout of the body-worn camera program; force mitigation and de-escalation training courses for officers; revisions to policies on use of force; commitment to training officers and emergency dispatchers on crisis intervention for individuals in mental health crisis; general training improvements; public engagement through the Community Policing Advisory Panel; and recruiting efforts aimed at increasing the Department's diversity; and
WHEREAS, The Department of Justice has built on its longstanding collaborative initiatives with the City and Department by working in partnership on reform efforts by providing technical assistance to the Department; assisting in the development of force mitigation and de-escalation training courses for officers; assisting with the revision of the Department's use of force policies; implementing the Violence Reduction Network to deliver strategic and intensive training; and conducting Community Trust Roundtable discussions; and
WHEREAS, On January 13, 2017, the City entered into an Agreement in Principle with the Department of Justice in which the City committed to negotiating reforms to ensure sustainable, constitutional, and effective policing, all with the goal of entering into a settlement agreement in the form of a consent decree that will include reforms to the Department's use of force practices and accountability mechanisms, as well as its training, community policing, supervision, data collection, transparency, officer wellness systems and promotion practices. The consent decree will be overseen by an independent, third-party monitor; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and the Members of the City Council, assembled this twenty-fifth day of January, 2017, do hereby express and reaffirm our commitment to the Agreement in Principle executed on January 13, 2017 with the Department of Justice in which the City committed to negotiating reforms to ensure sustainable, constitutional, and effective policing, all with the goal of entering into a settlement agreement in the form of a consent decree that will include reforms to the Department's use of force practices and accountability mechanisms, as well as its training, community policing, supervision, data collection, transparency, officer wellness systems and promotion practices that have already been initiated by the City and the Department; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we do hereby express and reaffirm our commitment to implement meaningful reforms and improvements in the Department regardless of changes at the Department of Justice resulting from the change in presidential administration; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we call upon the Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability to inform the City Council, through the Committee on Public Safety, on their activities in developing a proposal for the Citizen's Advisory Board; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we caJJ-upon Jhe federal government to provide, sufficient funding tojmpierjTent the recommendations contained in the January 13, 2017
|
|
X |
|
^ 0 Ward |
Ward |
|
T7fC23U— |
X |
|
|
Ward |
|
|
X |
|
[ Coward |
Ward |
|
x^SouavJJ |
X |
|
3^ Ward |
Ward |
|
x cm ~^r~ |
X |
|
Z°l Ward |
Ward |
|
X |
X |
|
Ward |
Ward |
|
X |
X |
|
Ward |
Ward |
|
X |
X |
|
Ward |
Ward |
|
X |
X |
|
Ward |
Ward |
|
X |
X |
|
Ward |
Ward |
|
X |
X |
|
Ward |
Ward |
|
X |
X |
|
Ward |
Ward |
|
X |
X |
|
Ward |
Ward |
|
X |
X |
|
Ward |
Ward |
|
X |
X |
|
Ward |
Ward |
|
X |
X |
|
Ward |
Ward |
|
X |
X |
|
Ward |
Ward |
|
X |
X |
|
Ward |
Ward |
|
X |
X |
|
Ward |
Ward |
|
X |
X |
|
Ward |
Ward |
|
X |
X |
|
Ward |
Ward |
|
X |
X |
|
Ward |
Ward |
|
X |
X |
|
Ward |
Ward |
|
X |
X |
|
Ward |
Ward |