12/15/2023 0 Comments Pf changes chicagoStill, from Lightfoot’s inauguration in 2019 through early March, police arrested about nine Black people for every white person. Then last year, arrests fells to roughly 52,000 as pandemic restrictions shuttered schools, slowed business and kept many inside. Likewise, arrests have trended downward over a decade, from more than 151,000 in 2011 to about 90,000 in 2019. In a campaign position paper, Lightfoot noted the racial disparities and wrote, “It is no wonder then that deep divisions exist between CPD and communities of color.I am committed to continuing work to bridge this divide.”Īnd yet Chicago police continue to use force against and arrest people of color - particularly Black people - in wild disproportion to white people. Department of Justice wrote in a 2017 report that “CPD’s pattern or practice of unreasonable force and systemic deficiencies fall heaviest on the predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods on the South and West Sides of Chicago.” “As mayor, I will take on this challenge and work to build a Chicago Police Department that will be best in class in the nation,” she said in a campaign social media post.Įfforts at changing the department have been premised on its history of policing white neighborhoods and communities of color differently. A couple of years later, she made transforming the department a major theme of her candidacy. Lightfoot, a former federal prosecutor who once ran a Police Department disciplinary agency, emerged as a force in Chicago politics during Emanuel’s response to the 2015 release of video of white Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting Black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times.Īmid the damaging scandal, Emanuel named Lightfoot, then his Police Board chair, to lead his Police Accountability Task Force. So far, this year has been even more violent, with shootings up 18% over the same period in 2020 and homicides up 5%, according to police statistics.Īs a candidate, Lightfoot rejected the idea that the city can either overhaul the Police Department or keep people safe, calling that a “false dichotomy” and pledging to take on both challenges. Both shootings and homicides were up by 50% in 2020 over the previous year. Police union officials and others have suggested that reforming the department would lead to out-of-control crime, but Lightfoot and Brown have struggled to contain surging violence even as they made limited progress toward reform. ![]() “That’s like turning the Titanic, man, in the Chicago River. He accepted some responsibility for failing to push harder to fulfill the consent decree on schedule but noted the challenge of overhauling the country’s second largest city police department. Eddie Johnson, Lightfoot’s police superintendent before he was fired amid a scandal in late 2019, said it was hard to balance reforms that depend on retraining cops with keeping them on the street in the city’s most violent neighborhoods. Still, her administration remains far from making good on many of the promises of her candidacy. On Friday, however, the mayor withdrew her plan during a City Council hearing while a competing proposal from grassroots groups was blocked by pro-police aldermen and mayoral allies. Most significantly, Murphy pointed out that Lightfoot last month moved toward fulfilling a campaign vow by unveiling her long-delayed plan for civilian oversight of the Police Department. He also cited the city’s recent performance on fulfilling consent decree requirements, which improved on its past record. ![]() Murphy noted that the Police Department now has an Office of Constitutional Policing and Reform. Later, City Hall spokesman Alexander Murphy emailed a host of points that did not directly address the questions and included a statement that said, “since 2019, Mayor Lightfoot has made real progress toward police reform and accountability.” It’s a condemnation.”Ĭity Hall and police officials declined requests for interviews with Lightfoot and police Superintendent David Brown, and did not answer written questions or issue any statements before this story was published online Thursday. ![]() “I would say that Lori is on par with Rahm, and that really is not a compliment. “Nothing has changed,” said Aislinn Pulley, a founder of Black Lives Matter Chicago. ![]() Mayor Lori Lightfoot talks with police supervisors in the 4700 block of West Madison Street in the West Garfield Park neighborhood on April 24, 2020, in Chicago.
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