Statement re: Executive Orders by President Trump on Policing and Crime

February 10, 2017 8:15 am

Karen Sheley

Today, the Trump Administration released an executive order that would give more authority to police departments around the country. The following statement can be attributed to the ACLU of Illinois Police Practices Project Director Karen Sheley:

"Once again, Donald Trump has delved into a world of “alternative facts” and invented a national “crime wave” that simply does not exist. Based on the President’s campaign rhetoric we can expect that the task force’s solutions will be tired, destructive practices such as stop and frisk.

Chicago is in the midst of a policing crisis – created because of deep mistrust of the police by the communities they serve. Stop and frisk makes this worse, not better. What is needed is a commitment to real community policing, where neighborhood voices are heard in identifying and solving neighborhood problems. The answers in Chicago must come from our communities, not from Washington, DC."

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