NYT: Chicago Police Dept. Plagued by Systemic Racism, Task Force Finds

ExodusNirvana

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CHICAGO — Racism has contributed to a long, systemic pattern of institutional failures by this city’s police department in which police officers have mistreated people, operated without sufficient oversight, and lost the trust of residents, a task force assigned by Mayor Rahm Emanuel has found.

The report, issued on Wednesday, was blistering, blunt and backed up by devastating statistics. Coincidentally, it was released as city leaders were installing a new, permanent superintendent for the Chicago Police Department.

“The community’s lack of trust in CPD is justified,” the task force wrote. “There is substantial evidence that people of color — particularly African-Americans — have had disproportionately negative experiences with the police over an extended period of time.”

The report gives validation to complaints made for years by African-American residents here who have said they were unfairly targeted by officers without justification on a regular basis. It raises the pressure on Mr. Emanuel and other Chicago leaders to make significant changes at a pivotal time for the nation’s second largest municipal police force, which has been under intense fire from residents and under scrutiny from the federal authorities. It includes more than 100 recommendations for change.

The task force amassed data that shows the extent to which African-Americans appear to have been targeted. In a city where whites, blacks and Hispanics each make up about one-third of the population, 74 percent of the 404 people shot by the Chicago police between 2008 and 2015 were black, the report said. Black people were targeted in 72 percent of thousands of investigative street stops that did not lead to arrests during a recent summer.

Three out of four — 76 percent — of people on whom Chicago police officers used Taser guns between 2012 and 2015 were black. And black people made up 46 percent of police traffic stops in 2013.

“CPD’s own data gives validity to the widely held belief the police have no regard for the sanctity of life when it comes to people of color,” according to the report, a draft summary of which was first reported in The Chicago Tribune on Tuesday afternoon. “Stopped without justification, verbally and physically abused, and in some instances arrested, and then detained without counsel — that is what we heard about over and over again,” the task force wrote.

The stinging findings come at a particularly troublesome time here, as violent crimes have increased this year and as police morale is reported to have sunk.

The task force was given its assignment late last year, after the release of a graphic dashcam video showing a white Chicago police officer, Jason Van Dyke, fatally shooting a black teenager, Laquan McDonald, along a Chicago street. Widespread protests followed, and Mr. Emanuel fired the city’s police superintendent, who was officially replaced on Wednesday by his choice, Eddie Johnson, a longtime officer who is black. The Justice Department has since announced an investigation into the department’s patterns and practices, which is still underway.

The task force members — chosen by Mr. Emanuel — were racially diverse, with professional backgrounds in social work, law and government. Lori Lightfoot, the president of the Chicago Police Board, was chairwoman of the group, and the panel was advised by Deval Patrick, the former Massachusetts governor who spent part of his childhood in Chicago.

The other members were Randolph Stone, a clinical professor of law at the University of Chicago; Sergio E. Acosta, a former federal prosecutor; Victor dikkson, who leads an organization that helps former inmates; Joseph Ferguson, Chicago’s inspector general; Maurice Classen, a former prosecutor; Alexa James, a licensed clinical social worker; and Sybil Madison-Boyd, a psychologist who works with urban youth.

On Wednesday, before the report was released, Mr. Emanuel said he had not yet seen it, but that his “general attitude” was to be “open to look at everything they say.”

Mr. Emanuel said he was not surprised by the suggestion of racism, and that he wanted to work through those issues.

“I don’t really think you need a task force to know that we have racism in America, we have racism in Illinois or that there’s racism that exists in the city of Chicago and obviously could be in our department,” Mr. Emanuel said.

He added: “The question is: ‘what are we going to do to confront it and make the changes in not only personnel but in policies to reflect, I think, the values that make up the diversity of our city.’”
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http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/14/u...by-systemic-racism-task-force-finds.html?_r=0

I don't know about you guys....but I am fukking shocked :mindblown:
 
Big Daddy

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How is this shocking? It's been known for decades that Chicago PD is one of the most corrupt departments in this entire nation. I remember being outraged over their behavior way back in the 90s.

It's disgusting.
 
Kokoro

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5star said:
Let's blame the kids for killing each other but let's say nothing about the government and police department practices to turn Chicago into what it is. -Cac poster
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How about we dont equate the two

Be outraged and disgusted about both
 
J

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Sensitive Blake Griffin said:
don't these task forces find that this is the case in every single police department? its not like chicacgo PD is some unique police force. Ending the war on drugs, Mandatory body cams and officers being prosecuted is the only way to change things
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If the cops are the foot soldiers of the rich, how do you expect that their lapdogs (district attorneys and judges) are going to respond?

The first thing you have to do is take away their lap dogs. Without their mouth piece, they won't be able to scream. The police will follow suit.
 
Kokoro

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5star said:
How about we understand the correlation between the two. Why wouldn't you pay attention to the cause if the effect leaves you outraged and disgusted?
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Maybe you dont get what Im saying

Im saying we shouldnt bring up "black on black crime" when a white officer is being investigated in the suspicious death of a black male because at that point in time it is neither the time nor place to bring up that issue

Like how you mentioned white people always do to deflect away from the issues of institutionalized racism in Amerikkka
 
5

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GibsonES said:
Maybe you dont get what Im saying

Im saying we shouldnt bring up "black on black crime" when a white officer is being investigated in the suspicious death of a black male because at that point in time it is neither the time nor place to bring up that issue

Like how you mentioned white people always do to deflect away from the issues of institutionalized racism in
Amerikkka
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Agreed
 
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