#ChiPAC: It's time. (Civilian Control of the Police in Chicago)

#ChiPAC: It's time.
All-elected Civilian Police
Accountability Council for Chicago

I've just returned from Chicago. To sum up what I've observed: people have realized the Emanuel administration is running on empty. They've realized the problems of the city -- police, schools, housing -- are coming to a head. And they're realizing that the people now get to decide on new directions.

This past week saw publication of poll figures indicating that SIXTY-FOUR PERCENT of Chicagoans said cover-ups and a code of silence are "a widespread problem" at the Chicago Police Department. An article in the Chicago Reader detailed the way in which the Chicago Police Department has allowed the police union to be the provider of information to the public when police shootings occur -- information that was "false or misleading" in 15 of 35 cases examined.

The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression urged the public this week to demand that their representatives on Chicago City Council take action:

Thank you for joining the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression campaign to stop police crimes and for community control of the police!  We’d like to thank you for signing the petition supporting the proposed ordinance creating an all-elected Civilian Police Accountability Council, or CPAC.

 Now we're asking for your help in getting our representatives' attention. Take a moment to call your alderman and ask if he/she supports CPAC.

(Don't know your alderman? Click this link to learn who your alderman is and how to contact her/him. When the name of your alderman comes up, click on it to get his/her office phone number.)

By the way, if your alderman doesn't have a copy of the CPAC ordinance, offer to email the link below, or fax it to his/her office.

And please call us with the results. We want to know what our representatives think!  Call us at 312-939-2750.

Thanks!

Frank Chapman

Field Organizer

After you call your alderman, please share this image on social media:

#ChiPAC: It's time!
I told MY alderman we need an all-elected
Civilian Police Accountability Council for Chicago!
(Please retweet this message.)

It's time for the idea of an all-elected Civilian Police Accountability Council for Chicago to go viral.


Update March 3, 2016: Democracy is breaking out all over! "Illinois House passes bill to create elected CPS board" (Chicago Sun-Times) Can #ChiPAC be far behind?


Related posts

A campaign exists to bring about a democratically-elected Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) in Chicago. The campaign would involve the people in electing the watchers of the police, and put the ultimate control of (and responsibility for) the police in the hands of the citizens of Chicago.

(See Does a Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) need to be part of a "new plan of Chicago"? )


As 2015 came to a close, the people of Chicago took to the streets to demand citizen control of the police.

(See CHICAGO CITY COUNCIL: Impose Civilian Control on CPD)













#BlackLivesMatter: When all is said and done, how many career politicians in Chicago will have crashed and burned along the way because they couldn't or wouldn't step up and lead on this issue?

(See #PeopleOverPolice: Is This What Democracy Looks Like? )

It's time for Chicago's Progressive Caucus as a whole -- and all its members individually -- to come out strongly in favor of a democratically-elected Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) for Chicago.

(See A Modest Proposal for Chicago's Progressive Caucus: Support CPAC )

People around the world reading the exposé in The Guardian today about the thousands of (mostly African-American) people denied their rights while being detained at a secret Chicago Police Deparment location at Homan Square might wonder if anyone in Chicago is doing anything in an attempt to get control of the police.

(See CHICAGO: Twilight Zone? Constitution-Free Zone? (What's it look like to YOU?) )