Live streamed public executions of black men at the hands of police officers have become a tragic norm. Citizens, watchdog organizations, and communities across the country continue demanding reform to improve police accountability. Chicago, with its reputation of fatal police shootings and excessive force, has been at the center of this controversy reignited by allegations of a cover-up in the 2014 police shooting of Laquan McDonald.
In response to the outcry for reform, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has put forth a plan to restructure the city’s police accountability system by creating a new agency to investigate police shootings and misconduct allegations. The plan, approved by a 39-8 vote from the Chicago City Council on Wednesday, will form a new Civilian Office of Police Accountability with a deputy inspector assigned to monitor the department.
Although most agencies have some sort of bureau of investigation for internal affairs, relying on these parallel agencies to ethically investigate and self-correct has proven to be largely ineffective. Critics of the plan argue that the “new” system remains too closely aligned with City Hall and is not any more transparent than the Independent Police Review Authority which almost always sided with officers.
In an interview with ABC News, Alderwoman Leslie Hairston, who voted against the plan said that the new agency is, “Not what many community organizations and activist want.” Hairston also criticized the provision of the plan that calls for the new agency to hire attorneys from a list of city-approved law firms, questioning how lawyers who owe their jobs to the city’s law department could be trusted with impartiality in their investigations.
Emanuel acknowledged that the plan, though not perfect, is an important step in restoring the faith of the community.
“I consider this to be the beginning of a journey, not the end,” said the mayor in an interview with ABC News.
This initiative comes on the heels of a recent announcement that the Chicago Police Department will be hiring an additional 970 officers to add to its current roster of 12,500 officers in order to address the city’s alarming crime rate. Only time will tell whether or not the extensive measures being put in place to improve the Chicago Police Department prove effective.
