CHICAGO _ For the second time in less than a month, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's push to change the Chicago Police Department's oversight agency has been delayed, this time in the face of pressure for more public input.
The latest delay came Wednesday, as the City Council opened two days of hearings _ proceedings that activists derided as a sham before they even began. Community groups complained the hearings at City Hall were poorly planned and inconvenient for members of the public to attend, and that the mayor wasn't taking pains to hear from neighborhood people most impacted by police misconduct.
"At this moment, no, I have no confidence in these hearings," said Frank Chapman of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, which has been pushing for greater civilian control of the Police Department. "I have confidence in the people of Chicago. I have confidence in people on the South Side, the North Side, the West Side. I think we can make the difference. Them guys in there? No. I have no confidence in them doing nothing."
Following the contentious session, Emanuel's council allies said they are leaning toward getting much more extensive community input before the mayor introduces his plan. And that would likely push back the plan's introduction to early fall instead of later this month.
The sharp response from community activists who say they've been misled by past failed attempts to curb police misconduct underscores the difficulty Emanuel faces in trying to cast himself as an honest broker in the push for reforms. His job is doubly hard because he's also trying to bolster his standing with rank-and-file police officers who say they're being scapegoated as they do the dangerous work of trying to stop the city's rampant street violence.
The complaints Wednesday were not the first time Emanuel has come under attack on the issue. Nearly a month ago, the person Emanuel picked to chair his Police Accountability Task Force that presented reform recommendations said City Hall hearings weren't enough. Lori Lightfoot called on the mayor to have "actual, meaningful engagement with the community and subject matter experts before the ordinance is drafted."
Lightfoot, the Chicago Urban League and the American Civil Liberties Union then delivered a letter to the mayor calling for a more robust discussion with residents. Shortly after, Alderman Ariel Reboyras announced there would be two City Hall hearings that would prevent Emanuel from keeping to his original plan of introducing his reform ordinance in June.
Before the first of those hearings started Wednesday, community groups held two separate news conferences aiming to pressure Emanuel and aldermen into holding neighborhood meetings, actively engage with police abuse victims and consider their input in crafting a final ordinance.
"There needs to be much more, greater degree of community engagement before there can be a proper reform of the Police Department and the police oversight process," said Paul Strauss of the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights. "The hearings scheduled for today and tomorrow are wholly inadequate for engaging the community in police reform. A much deeper, more thorough process for community engagement is required."
During the hearing, Shari Runner, president of the Chicago Urban League, called for "a real public dialogue" with evening neighborhood meetings people can easily attend to talk about the problems at the Police Department before the mayor presents a plan. "And why are these hearings being held days after a major national holiday, when this body had to know many people would be on holiday?" she asked.
The mayor had hoped to introduce a package at the July 20 council meeting to replace the beleaguered Independent Police Review Authority with another oversight agency and adopt other recommendations from his Police Accountability Task Force. It has been nearly eight months since video was released of the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by a Chicago police officer, drawing nationwide attention to the city and precipitating the biggest crisis of Emanuel's time in office.
The mayor is trying to make the case he has been engaged, and that he's already going ahead with real changes as he continues to try to deal with the fallout from the McDonald video.
On Tuesday, Emanuel's press office sent reporters a list of "reforms and strategies" the mayor and the Police Department have put in place the past year. Among them are establishing a Bureau of Professional Standards within the department, setting new standards for the release of videos and new protocols for responding to mental health incidents.
