Today, the Illinois Attorney General and the City of Chicago released the long-awaited draft of the consent decree to reform the Chicago Police Department. In response, Karen Sheley, Director of the Police Practices Project at the ACLU of Illinois released the following statement:
"After nearly a year-long process, the City and the Illinois Attorney General today produced a draft consent decree aimed at guiding reform of the Chicago Police Department for years to come. This is an important step in the long process of reform; but it is a draft that will need to be supplemented before presented to the court.
Today, the organizations who have sued to bring about reform, including the ACLU, have started to examine the draft to see whether it is designed to meet the needs of Chicago residents. There is no simple and quick fix, and this document deserves our careful attention.
Incredibly, this draft still does not require officers to record when they point a weapon at someone. The City of Chicago just settled a case for $2.5 million where police held a gun to the chest of a 3-year-old child. Given the absence of this provision, we need to examine this draft very closely.
The movement toward reform of CPD did not culminate today—but it has moved one step forward. We must all review and respond comprehensively to the draft to ensure a revised decree will successfully bring about the reform we have been waiting for."
