Full Text of SR1770 99th General Assembly
SR1770 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Following the release of the Laquan McDonald | 3 | | shooting video in November of 2015, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel | 4 | | appointed the Police Accountability Task Force to complete a | 5 | | report on the Chicago Police Department; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, It has been determined by the Police | 7 | | Accountability Task Force that the Chicago Police Department | 8 | | has been plagued by officers who contribute to the systematic | 9 | | racism that foster oppressive policing tactics and have | 10 | | thoroughly failed to maintain the trust of both | 11 | | African-American and Hispanic communities; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, High profile cases such as the Laquan McDonald | 13 | | shooting have brought light to a culture of cover-ups, evidence | 14 | | manipulation, falsified reports, and a complete lack of | 15 | | accountability within the Chicago Police Department; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, Decades worth of community complaints involving | 17 | | stops without justification, verbal and physical abuse, | 18 | | unnecessary arrests, and detainment without legal counsel have | 19 | | rarely been recognized as legitimate by the Chicago Police | 20 | | Department; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, Both Hispanic and African-American communities |
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| 1 | | have disproportionately become the victims of the | 2 | | institutional racism carried out by members of the Chicago | 3 | | Police Department; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, In a city where African-Americans make up roughly | 5 | | one-third of Chicago's population, they were subjects in 72% of | 6 | | investigative street stops that did not lead to an arrest in | 7 | | 2014; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, African-Americans were also subjects in 46% of | 9 | | traffic stops in 2013 and justifiably feel targeted by those | 10 | | sworn to protect and serve their respective communities; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Settlement costs associated with unnecessary | 12 | | detainment, injury caused by use of excessive force, or even | 13 | | wrongful death are incurred by Chicago's taxpayers; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, Though trust cannot be built overnight, working | 15 | | toward strong police and community relations is essential in | 16 | | helping to combat violent crime in the City of Chicago; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, While many Chicago Police Department officers do a | 18 | | commendable job with the intention of lawfully ensuring public | 19 | | safety and building relationships with citizens in the | 20 | | communities they work, the prevalence of predatory policing | 21 | | steeped in bigotry in poor communities of color diminishes |
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| 1 | | their work; therefore, be it
| 2 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL | 3 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we denounce the | 4 | | systematic racism of the Chicago Police Department outlined in | 5 | | the recent Police Accountability Task Force report and the | 6 | | negative effects this racism has in community-police | 7 | | relations; and be it further
| 8 | | RESOLVED, That, because it is the sworn duty of the Chicago | 9 | | Police Department to police fairly and not allow prejudices or | 10 | | animosities to influence on-duty decisions, we encourage the | 11 | | Department to be transparent and held accountable for their | 12 | | actions.
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