To paraphrase Chief Keef: Black people, that’s that sh*t the Chicago Police Department don’t like. In today’s shocking news, a new report from the Police Accountability Task Force has found that the Chicago Police Department gives zero f*cks about Black people.
The task force was formed by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel late last year after protests over the CPD’s treatment of minorities, particularly African-Americans. Their investigation found numerous instances of excessive force, shootings and a code of silence within the force. The report highlighted decades of misconduct and aggressive behavior dating as far back to the 1969 police raid that killed Black Panther Party member Fred Hampton.
Per the Associated Press:
The group concluded that fear and lack of trust in law enforcement among minorities is justified, citing data that show 74 percent of the hundreds of people shot by officers in recent years were African-Americans, even though blacks account for 33 percent of the city’s population.
In a summary of the report, the Task Force on Police Accountability recommended replacing the “badly broken” independent review authority that currently investigates misconduct with a “new and fully transparent and accountable Civilian Police Investigative Agency.” It also suggested creating the post of deputy chief of diversity and inclusion.
The task force also called out police unions, saying that the collective bargaining agreements between the city and the unions have “essentially turned the code of silence into official policy.” The code refers to the reflex of some officers not to report colleagues for misconduct.
The report also uncovered a policy that allows police officers 24 hours before they have to provide a statement after a shooting, which of course gives them ample time to corroborate with fellow officers to get their stories straight. And in case you were wondering why people aren’t quick to file complaints about the police, there is also a policy in place that does not allow anonymous filings. Accused officers are given the names of people who file complaints against them.
Earlier this year it was reported that 80 percent of the departments dash-cams were missing audio due to “errors.”
The report comes as a result of the city’s brass succumbing to pressure from citizens demanding changes in the police department. Protests errupted after dash-cam video revealed that CPD officer killed 17-year old LaQuan McDonald unnecessarily. Police initially said McDonald threatened their lives. But video showed that he only had a small knife before he was shot 13 times from 10 feet away.
To Chicago’s credit, they did not wait for anymore demands to make changes. On Wednesday, Mayor Emanuel appointed Eddie Johnson as the departments new Superintendent. Johnson is a 27-year veteran of the force and a Chicago native who grew up in the once notorious Cabrini Green projects.
Photo: WEEN.com
