Earlier this afternoon, supporters of the Mayor’s proposed ordinance to empower the City of Chicago to use a discredited civil asset forfeiture statute in order to seize property from alleged “street gangs” delayed a vote on the measure in City Council. The following that can be attributed to Edwin C. Yohnka, Director of Communications and Public Policy for the ACLU:
After the City Council deferred action today on the Mayor’s ill-advised proposal to use a discredited civil asset forfeiture approach to reducing gun violence, we hope that this action can end the time and energy directed to this proposal. It is time to take a new approach. We encourage the Mayor and members of the City Council to instead direct their energies toward approaches that actually will improve public safety across all parts of the City. To start, we urge the Mayor to bring a laser-like focus on police reform, by coming into full compliance with all provisions of the federal consent decree, and on the individualized investigations of crime. That work actually will move us forward, both on police accountability and public safety. Let us focus on that effort, not this imprudent attempt at an ineffective approach.