Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Landmark agreement reached on investigatory stops in Chicago
From an ACLU news release
2015-08-07

This article shared 3290 times since Fri Aug 7, 2015
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email


CHICAGO — In a landmark agreement between the Chicago Police Department ( CPD ), the City of Chicago, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois ( ACLU ), there will be an independent evaluation of the practices and procedures, and increased transparency and public disclosure regarding Chicago police investigatory stops. These stops ( which may be accompanied by pat downs or searches ) have been the focus of public discussion since March of 2015, when the ACLU issued a report raising concerns about the legality and constitutionality of the practice on Chicago streets.

Today's agreement is the result of months of negotiation between the City, CPD and ACLU, which began after the ACLU issued its report in March. Rather than engage in expensive, time-consuming, and burdensome litigation, the parties agreed to discuss the outlines of a legally enforceable agreement, without the prior filing of a formal lawsuit. After careful discussions about the subject, the City, CPD and the ACLU were able to agree on a series of concrete steps designed to ensure ( and confirm ) that CPD policies and practices related to "investigatory stops and protective pat downs" comply with all laws, as well as the U.S. Constitution.

"When we issued our report a few months ago, it included a series of recommendations for change by the Chicago police," said Harvey Grossman, legal director for the ACLU in announcing the agreement. "This agreement incorporates the bulk of those recommendations, and reflects the types of agreements that have been reached in other communities only after a long, protracted period of investigation and litigation. What we have done here is move past the litigation process and advanced directly to a collaborative process, to insure that stops on Chicago streets meet constitutional and legal standards."

"As the men and women of the Chicago Police Department work to make our city safer and identify the small subset of individuals who torment our neighborhoods with violence, it is imperative that we use every tool and resource in a way that is not only lawful but respectful of the residents we serve," said Chicago Police Superintendent Garry F. McCarthy. "We believe policing in Chicago must be strictly based on crime data, patterns, statistics and community intelligence, and this unprecedented agreement with the ACLU is a demonstration of CPD's commitment to fairness, respect, transparency, and underscores our willingness to work side by side with everyone as we work toward our shared goal of keeping our neighborhoods safe."

A key part of the agreement is the engagement of former U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys to evaluate the City's practices and procedures regarding investigatory stops and to oversee the agreements implementation. Judge Keys will produce public reports twice each year on investigatory stops and pat downs by Chicago police, assessing whether the CPD is complying with its legal requirements, including the Fourth Amendment requirement that there be reasonable suspicion of criminal conduct as a basis for a stop or search and that the stops do not have an impermissible racially-disparate impact prohibited by the Illinois Civil Rights Act. Judge Keys also is authorized to make recommendations for changes to CPD policies.

Under the agreement, the City and CPD will collect additional data about all investigatory stops in the City of Chicago. Judge Keys will use this data to determine if the City's practices are lawful. The data to be collected will include name and badge number of the officer, the race/ethnicity of the person stopped, the gender of the person stopped, all the reasons for the stop, the location, date and time of the stop, whether or not a pat down resulted from the stop ( along with the reason for the pat down ), whether contraband was discovered and what happened as a result of the stop ( including an arrest, warning, or no action at all ).

The agreement also calls for heightened training of officers, designed to ensure that investigatory stops in Chicago are conducted only where there is reasonable suspicion of criminal activity and that protective pat downs are performed only when legally justified. The training will be followed up by quarterly or semi-annual audits by CPD and can lead to re-training, enhanced supervision or discipline of officers who engage in unlawful stops and pat downs or who violate CPD procedures.

All of the data collected by CPD is to be shared with the ACLU and with the outside Consultant, Judge Keys. Beginning in 2016, Judge Keys and his staff will review the data collected by CPD, conduct a thorough analysis of the data, along with policies, procedures and training practices of CPD. Public reports will be issued twice a year that assess the practices of investigatory stops in Chicago. Judge Keys can then make recommendations for changes in CPD policy and training. Judge Key's independent reports will provide transparency and an assessment of the effectiveness of policy changes in the CPD

"This agreement relies not only on promises but also on specific verification of how CPD officers are interacting with the public on neighborhood streets all across the City," said Karen Sheley, senior staff counsel at the ACLU. "Judge Keys will provide a clear, concise picture twice each year that police supervisors and advocates can use to make appropriate steps to improve this situation in Chicago. We also hope that the transparency and improved training will increase trust and understanding between the CPD and communities."

The agreement announced today goes into effect immediately.


This article shared 3290 times since Fri Aug 7, 2015
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Nex Benedict's autopsy report released
2024-03-27
The full autopsy report for Nex Benedict (he/they)—a 16-year-old transgender and Indigenous student from Oklahoma's Owasso High School who died in February a day after a school fight—has been released. The Oklahoma Office of the Chie ...


Gay News

Thailand parliament passes landmark marriage bill
2024-03-27
On March 27, Thailand's parliament approved a marriage-equality bill by an overwhelmingly large margin—a landmark step that moves one of Asia's most liberal countries closer to legalizing same-sex unions, media ...


Gay News

Wyoming is latest state to ban gender-affirming care for minors
2024-03-24
On March 22, Wyoming became the latest state to prohibit gender-affirming care for minors, The Hill noted. In doing so, it joined 23 other states that passed laws restricting or banning the treatment. Legislators in both ...


Gay News

Family of 2004 murder victim holds event in Lake View; reward announced
2024-03-24
The year 2004, for the family and friends of Lake View resident Kevin Clewer, will forever be marked by tragedy. On March 24 of that year, Clewer, 31, was found in his apartment at 3444 N. Elaine Pl.; he was the ...


Gay News

No charges filed in Nex Benedict fight; campaigns call for Walters' removal
2024-03-22
In Oklahoma, Tulsa County District Attorney Stephen Kunzweiler announced that no charges will be filed in connection with the fight that happened the day before transgender, nonbinary high school student Nex Benedict died by suicide, NBC ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Va. marriage bill, AARP, online counseling, Idaho items, late activist
2024-03-21
Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed bills protecting same-sex marriages at a state level, surprising some, WRIC reported. The bills—passed out of both chambers along mostly party lines—will require clerks ...


Gay News

WORLD Leaked messages, Panama action, author dies at 32, Japan court, out athletes
2024-03-15
Hundreds of messages from an internal chat board for an international group of transgender health professionals were leaked in a report and framed as revealing serious health risks associated with gender-affirming care, including cancer, according to ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Missouri measure, HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, judge, Texas schools
2024-03-15
In Missouri, a newly proposed law could charge teachers and counselors with a felony and require them to register as sex offenders if they're found guilty of supporting transgender students who are socially transitioning, CNN noted. ...


Gay News

College athletes sue NCAA over transgender policies
2024-03-15
Former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines was among a group of college athletes who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on March 14, accusing it of violating their Title IX rights by allowing trans swimmer Lia Thomas ...


Gay News

LGBTQ+ people attacked by mobs in Greece
2024-03-14
Just weeks after a landmark law granted same-sex couples in Greece the right to marry, nearly 200 people dressed in black chased a transgender couple through the town square in Thessaloniki, the country's "second city" and ...


Gay News

Florida settles 'Don't Say Gay' lawsuit
2024-03-11
On March 11, the state of Florida settled a multi-year lawsuit against the so-called "Don't Say Gay" law, which limits how LGBTQ+ topics can be discussed and presented in schools, The Hill reported. The settlement agreement ...


Gay News

"X" gender marker now available on Illinois driver's licenses and state ID cards
2024-03-11
After several years of preparation, the Illinois Secretary of State's office is has been making the X gender designation available for non-binary residents and others not utilizing the M or F designations, since the beginning of ...


Gay News

WORLD Israeli reservist, man detained, Ghana bill, medic denied honor
2024-03-08
Hanania Ben-Shimon—the gay Israel Defense Forces reservist who was wounded as he killed one of the terrorists in the attack at the A-Za'ayem checkpoint near Ma'ale Adumim recently—published a post in which he pleaded that his ...


Gay News

Court blocks Texas attorney general's demand for PFLAG data
2024-03-01
From a press release: AUSTIN, Texas—Travis County District Court Judge Maria Cantú Hexel on March 1 blocked the latest effort by the Texas Attorney General's Office to persecute Texas families with transgender youth, temporarily haltin ...


Gay News

WORLD Canadian politics, Australian murders, Finnish study, 'Anatomy'
2024-03-01
Canadian conservatives are divided over an anti-trans policy that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith handed down in her province, The Guardian reported. The policy includes a ban on hormonal treatment, puberty ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.