Chicago Police Accountability Task Force

The Chicago Police Accountability Task Force final report

The Chicago Police Accountability Task Force (CPATF) was a task force created to "review the system of accountability, oversight and training that is currently in place for Chicago's police officers" in 2015.[1][2] It was announced via press release on December 1, 2015,[1] in the wake of the murder of Laquan McDonald and the protests and political fallout afterward.[3] 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."[4]

Members

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The members of the task force included:[5][6]

  • Lori Lightfoot – president of the Chicago Police Board and Task Force chair[7]
  • 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
  • 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

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Forum at South Shore Cultural Center

The task force held four public community forums in February 2016 and one press event in April 2016 and published the meetings on YouTube.[8][9]

Final report

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Task Force chair Lori Lightfoot unveils the 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.[10][11][12] 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.[10] According to the New York Times, the final report "was blistering, blunt and backed up by devastating statistics."[10]

Reactions

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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.[13][14]

Dean Angelo, the president of Chicago's Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7,[15] declared the accusation of racism in the Chicago Police Department "biased".[16] Lori Lightfoot, who was on the task force, responded to Angelo:[17] "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?"[18]

References

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  1. ^ a b "City of Chicago :: Mayor Emanuel Announces Task Force on Police Accountability". CityOfChicago.org. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  2. ^ Davey, Monica; Smith, Mitch (2016-04-13). "Chicago Police Dept. Plagued by Systemic Racism, Task Force Finds". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
  3. ^ "Unpacking the Police Accountability Task Force Report". Wbez.org. 16 April 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  4. ^ "Chicago Police Accountability Task Force Report". The New York Times. April 13, 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  5. ^ "Meet the members of Emanuel's new police accountability task force". WGN-TV. December 2015. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  6. ^ "Chicago City Police Task Force Members". Chicagopatf.org. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  7. ^ "Police Accountability Task Force Members". chicagopatf.org. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  8. ^ Chicago Police Accountability Task Force. YouTube. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  9. ^ "Events: Task Force Community Forums". Chicagopatf.org. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  10. ^ a b c "Chicago Police Dept. Plagued by Systemic Racism, Task Force Finds". The New York Times. April 14, 2016.
  11. ^ "Inside the Chicago Police Department's race problem". PBS NewsHour. 14 April 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  12. ^ "Chicago police reforms". The Economist. April 23, 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  13. ^ "Chicago Police Department will implement task force reforms". ABC7 Chicago. 21 April 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  14. ^ Josh Sanburn. "Chicago Police Reforms: Mayor Makes Some Changes but Not All". Time. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  15. ^ "FOP President Dean Angelo Responds to Task Force Recommendations". Chicago Tonight - WTTW. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  16. ^ "Police union: Low morale will crater following 'biased' report". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on June 11, 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  17. ^ "Lori Lightfoot: Dean Angelo 'Misses the Mark' on Task Force Recommendations". Chicago Tonight - WTTW. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  18. ^ "Fraternal Order Letter" (PDF). ChicagoTonight.WTTW.com. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
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