Chicago Reporter (https://www.chicagoreporter.com/category/key-issue/criminal-justice/page/2/)
Photo by Grace Donnelly
Unlike so many times before, in the case of Laquan McDonald, justice worked. But not without the help of journalists, street activists, and extraordinary public scrutiny.
State and city officials will choose an independent monitor that will have authority over the expensive, years-long effort to reform CPD.
After years of abuse, cover-ups and costs, many Chicago activists say it’s clear that policing can’t be reformed.
Several questions remain after Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and Police Supt. Eddie Johnson released a draft plan to reform the Chicago Police Department.
Chicago police have a record of arresting women for selling sex rather than men for buying it. A new ordinance borrows from anti-loitering measures that target black and Hispanic neighborhoods.
The Chicago Police Department fails to follow the law and its own directives to allow those in custody a phone call to a lawyer within one hour of arrest, advocates say.
Stakeholders in Illinois, around the country and across the spectrum are proposing ways for police, as first responders, to arrest and incarcerate less and help more, but additional funding is needed.
As other cities and states have moved to ban using solitary confinement as punishment for teens, the practice has increased at one of the largest juvenile jails in the country.
Ald. Ariel Reboyras seeks to weaken civilians’ potential role in police accountability by drawing from purely advisory bodies in Los Angeles and Seattle.
A proposed bill would create a uniform process for those awaiting trial behind bars to register and vote at county jails, where many detainees lack access to the ballot.