The following can be attributed to Alexandra Block, Senior Supervising Attorney at the ACLU of Illinois:
Mayor Johnson’s announcement of Larry Snelling as the new Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department is an opportunity for fundamental change in the way people across the City experience policing. The Superintendent’s top priority should be rapid progress on much-needed Consent Decree reforms, ensuring constitutional policing and Consent Decree compliance in every office and district within CPD. Chief Snelling should embrace this moment to change the “us versus them” culture in CPD – a change that is long overdue. At core, this culture change means pushing towards a community safety approach that ensures that all people in Chicago are treated with respect, provided with the timely services and support they need, regardless of their zip code, and are able to live without fear, including the fear that too often stems from interactions with law enforcement. This moment also calls for rethinking CPD’s ineffective strategies of high-volume, low-yield traffic stops and stop-and-frisk harassment of Black and Latino Chicagoans.
This moment requires a superintendent who is courageous enough to hold officers accountable when they violate laws and policies, who seeks creative, non-police solutions to community issues, and who is open to suggestions from all community members and stakeholders about making policing in every neighborhood better and more effective.
CPD needs a leader who can prioritize and lead this change and can hit the ground running. We look forward to helping Chief Snelling advance these goals.