In the final days of the Obama administration, the Department of Justice released an alarming report regarding the Chicago Police Department. The investigation took place over a year, and the findings were disturbing, to say the least.
The report found that “the Chicago Police Department (CPD) engages in a pattern or practice of using force, including deadly force, in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution…The pattern or practice results from systemic deficiencies in training and accountability, including the failure to train officers in de-escalation and the failure to conduct meaningful investigations of uses of force.”
According to the report, CPD was also involved in racially discriminatory behavior, specifically: the “practice of unreasonable force falls heaviest on predominantly black and Latino neighborhoods.”
While these findings are extremely alarming, something important should be noted: they aren’t new and don’t come as a surprise. The people in these communities have been aware of these problems for some time. In fact, over the past year there has been national media coverage on these issues, as well.
In 2016, Chicago surpassed 600 homicides, which made it the deadliest year since 1997. And in specific instances of police violence, individuals were shot, beaten with batons, shocked with Tasers, handcuffed, and even left in rival gang neighborhoods by police.
These findings need to be taken seriously, and action needs to be taken immediately.
Across CPD, police officers should be required to assess their personal biases because sometimes people don’t even realize what instincts they are acting on. Police forces should make a more conscious effort to avoid force wherever possible.
The report suggests many of the officers in predominantly Black and Latino communities are poorly trained. There are plenty of actions that can be taken to fix such problems. Americans should expect trained police forces, which isn’t asking for something outrageous. It is actually a very basic expectation.
Both the DoJ and CPD have discussed measures they have planned to solve these problems, from creating a new accountability force to the use of body cameras.
But the real question is whether the new administration will actually follow through on these promises. Jeff Sessions, the new U.S. Attorney General, and President Trump openly deny police brutality. In fact, President Trump said that “police are the most mistreated people.” This mentality could really hinder much-needed improvement.
Regardless of the actions the new administration takes, we must continue to demand accountability and refuse to normalize instances of police brutality.
Fariha Jawed is an accounting and political science junior and can be reached at [email protected]
Do the people of this rag ever get the facts straight? And why couldn’t Baby Carter or some other Black have written this piece?
746 were murdered in Chicago in 2016, which is over 600, but Fairy is apparently phoning that in.
Now that it is acceptable to label Chicago as a Death Trap since Obama is out of office, we shall soon enough find out about the internals of the devastation that has been caused by the Progressives “War on Police.”
BTW … 4 dead, 44 wounded in weekend shootings. A light week if you ask me. The thugs must have taken time off during the Women’s Rally in the Chiraq.
So … who has been Chicago Mayor while all this deadly time. Well, FORMER PRESIDENT Obama confidant Rahm Emanuel, who famously said “you never let a serious crisis go to waste.” And now he is stewing in those words.
The Obama Justice Department has been instrumental and should be held accountable for the War on Police. Their philosophy of “Black Lives Matter Only When a White Cop is Doing the Killing” has destroyed thousands of lives, and yet Progressives only focuses on the Rare Instances of Police shootings of unarmed Black Men. It’s so bad that Cops are being assassinated right in front of our faces, but BLM sheds no tears for them. On the contrary, they call for more.
White-on-White and Black-on-Black homicides are roughly on par with each other yearly, but Blacks make up 13% of the population, which is significantly less than the Caucasian and just under the Hispanic percentage.
The large spike in murders in Chicagoland can be attributed to the bad attitudes toward the police. BLM says they want “no Cops in the Hood”, and guess what they get their wish. The same happened in Baltimore when the police stepped aside.
But really .. was BLM expecting that all Blacks in Chiraq just sit around singing “Kumbaya My Lord” when the Cops reduced neighborhood patrols. I doubt it, but …
… the Consequence of reduced police presence presented opportunities for lets say … Chiraq’s street pharmaceutical sales entrepreneurs … and neighborhood party chiefs, to consolidate territory and holdings, in a vicious hostile takeover of sales and territory … or the lull in police presence just presented enterprising personages to settle old scores with other offending personages. No details needed to finish that thought.
The only way I can see a SOLUTION to this epidemic in Chiraq besides leveling the place. It’s quite simple … A DUSK TILL DAWN CURFEW or Wall them in like a Warsaw Ghetto, and let them fight it out. In any way … these parent-less children have no pride in self (except for cars and Nikes), family, neighborhood, or community, and its certainly not the logical thinking to be considered self-made and independent amongst their hood peers. If you are that, you are a sell-out.
Black leadership is a disgrace, and only serves itself for its own back pocket enrichment. I mean really … why would a Civil Rights leader like John Lewis want to End Racism … he would be out of a job. No Congressman Lewis has no problem with keeping his own people in an Intellectual slavery, while its leaders bask in sunshine. And that goes for Quanell X (who asks $1500 for a meet), or any other X, or Jackson, or Sharpton out there. Why would they voluntarily give up their Gravy Trains just to see Black Society succeed without them or some type of government support.
Fairy ends his piece laying blame at the feet of police … but the accountability truly needs to come from the Blacks themselves. Once they figure out how the White and Black Liberal leaders have robbed them of prosperity and justice, I hope the Black People will hunt them down like dogs. Figuratively, of course.
Okay, so you are troubled by the DOJ findings and hope that the new administration puts effort in to holding police departments accountable. Fair enough. It’s surprising though that you just pass over that 762 murders like it’s nothing.
I’m pretty sure killing someone is a violation of their civil rights but you seem unconcerned with that issue. Policing has to go both ways. You can’t expect to see Barney Fife style policing in streets where you get gunned down walking to school and the police have to worry that every person might have a mac-11 in their waistband.
Chicago is a poster city for what years of poor governance and poor policymaking gets you. Oh, and since you wrote this article 6 people were shot at a memorial for another shooting victim…