Consent decree, Nikkita Brown incident, SAFE-T Act
This is the independent body that decides disciplinary cases involving Chicago police officers. The Board’s members are appointed by the Mayor and approved by City Council.
The president of the Board is Ghian Foreman, a south side real estate developer who was appointed by Rahm Emanuel. He’s taking roll now.
Up first: State Senator @ElgieSims and State Representative @RepSlaughter will speak on “Illinois Fiscal Year 2023 Budget—Its Impact on Police
and Law Enforcement.” The General Assembly passed this budget on April 9.
Sims is chair of the state senate’s Appropriations Committee. He starts by saying that just today, IL was recognized for making good financial decisions, receiving a second credit rating upgrade from Moody’s. https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/moodys-upgrades-illinois-credit-rating-for-second-time-in-a-year
Sims says the budget includes money for law enforcement task forces, new cadet classes of the IL state police, local law enforcement body-worn and in-car camera grant funds, data storage costs for the cameras, and an officer retention pilot program
Rep Slaughter speaks now, reminding attendees that the SAFE-T act was passed back in Jan 2021 which included some police and sentencing reforms like eliminating cash bail.
Slaughter says one of the SAFE-T act highlights was a piece dealing with decertification [of “bad apple” cops], also mentions a co-responder pilot program, and witness protection
Slaughter says the past year has been a “balancing act” of protecting the progress with reforms that they’ve made while recognizing the public’s concern about crime. More context here https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-illinois-democrats-crime-proposal-20220405-vi6vkyndfzdefbkuimh774erbm-story.html
Sims echoes this as he speaks about striking balances and bringing all perspectives to the table.
He highlights the funding for body worn cameras and data storage for those feeds; they included that because they heard a need from local police departments that were concerned about the strain it created on their budgets.
Next, the minutes of the previous monthly meeting (March 17) are approved unanimously.
Chair Foreman announces that the next regular public meeting of the Police Board will be May 26, 2022, at 7:30 p.m.
Foreman says that the Board meets in closed session to discuss police disciplinary actions in accordance with the Open Meetings Act. A report of those decisions is available on the website; there are no disciplinary cases on the agenda for tonight
Next is a report on Police Board compliance with the Consent Decree on policing in Chicago. “A consent decree is a court-approved settlement that resolves a legal dispute between parties…”
…”This consent decree requires the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and the City of Chicago (the City) to reform training, policies, and practices in a number of important areas.” –https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/public-safety-and-violence-reduction/home/consent-decree.html
In 2017 the Dept of Justice “concluded a yearlong civil rights investigation of the Chicago Police Department” which confirmed that CPD “has a history of serious problems endangering the lives of both residents and police officers.” http://chicagopoliceconsentdecree.org
You can read the parts of the Consent Decree regarding the Police Board here: https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/cpb/supp_info/ConsentDecreePoliceBoardSections.pdf These involve selection criteria for Board members and hearing officers, and a policy regarding community input received at these public Board meetings.
Originally the consent decree had a 5 year timeline for compliance; last month it was extended for another 3 years. https://news.wttw.com/2022/03/25/chicago-police-extending-consent-decree-timeline-3-additional-years
Foreman says he’s pleased to announce that the Police Board is in compliance…but my livestream feed cuts and I don’t hear the rest of what he has to say :( now 1st Deputy Superintendent Eric Carter is speaking.
Now First Deputy Ephraim Eady of COPA (Civilian Office of Police Accountability) highlights some updates: COPA received 1,133 complaints. Some of the highest levels of complaints received were in police districts 11, 8, 5 and 18 in the past quarter.
COPA received 4 notifications of officer involved shootings in the past quarter
“COPA has been working with the Chicago Police Department and has given feedback on CPD’s constitutional policing training module,” Eady says. Says COPA is “always looking for opportunities to partner with the police department and provide feedback”
Eady names some high-profile investigations they closed in the past quarter. One case was the fatal shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo by a Chicago cop, closed just last week. Another was the fatal shooting of Anthony Alvarez. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-copa-investigation-adam-toledo-20220414-qsznruawlrbarniuxlac3znt2m-story.html
Now time for public comment. The first speaker for public comment is a member of the Police Board’s youth board, named Saul Arnow. Speaks about a few events/initiatives coming up.
The next speaker is Krista Noel (not sure of spelling.) She says “I only have one question and that’s about Nakita’s case. What is the decision?”
A speaker I couldn’t identify says he thinks the case was closed. Another says the case was referred to the Dept of Law.
She could be referring to Nikkita Brown, the Black woman who was grabbed by a white cop last year while she walked her dog in a park https://blockclubchicago.org/2021/08/30/nikkita-brown-chicago-officer-being-investigated-after-following-attack-black-woman-walking-in-lincoln-park/
South Side Weekly investigated the history of misconduct by that officer, Bruce Dyker https://southsideweekly.com/cop-in-lakefront-attack-has-a-history-of-similar-incidents/
The next speaker is Sharon Banks-Pynchon, president of the West Chesterfield Community Association. She says her org has cooperated and collaborated with the Police Board in the past and speaks about a program called “Together We Can”
The next speaker is Eunice Chapman. Says her community is “still having problems with Family Fresh Meat Market” at 7894 S Eberhart Avenue and people loitering outside of it. “Please help us,” she says.
Tiffany Smith, the next speaker, also touts the “Together We Can” program as a good way to change the narrative about the relationship between law enforcement & residents of the south side
The next speaker says on April 11 she was sitting in a hospital parking lot when an officer approached and asked if she was ok; she said yes she just needed ten minutes
Multiple officers approached her less than 10 minutes later and asked her for her ID, repeatedly asking what was in her car, implying she had something illegal in her car. The officer then reached into her car and grabbed her arm attempting to pull her out
She says that the situation was traumatic; she’s had to take time off of work to deal with its effects. She wants accountability. Her attempts to get a white-shirt on the scene were not successful
Eady says complaining to COPA would be a good starting point.
The next speaker is a Ms. Edwards. She is also supporting “Together We Can.” She says the group has been doing good work in her neighborhood, which has seen a recent murder and lots of gang activity
Linda Hudson, the next speaker, is a resident of the 4th district. She also asks that “Together We Can” be expanded. She wants it to include the 4th district. “The community wants this and we need it. We need more visibility from CPD” with summer upticks in crime approaching
The next speaker is from Chicago Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression (CAARPR). She also asks about the investigation into the Officer Bruce Dyker incident. “What is the Superintendant’s determination in this case?” she asks.
“It’s currently under review and privileged at this point,” a Board member tells her.
The final speaker is Robert Moore, a frequent commenter to the Police Board. He speaks quickly and his comments are not terribly coherent
The meeting is adjourned at 8:19 PM.
Check out http://documenters.org for more info on this and other public meetings!