Full Text of SR1858 99th General Assembly
SR1858 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 systemic | 9 | | racism that fosters oppressive policing tactics and has | 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 shed light upon 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 of community complaints involving stops | 17 | | without justification, verbal and physical abuse, unnecessary | 18 | | arrests, and detainment without legal counsel have rarely been | 19 | | recognized as legitimate by the Chicago Police Department; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Both Hispanic and African-American communities | 21 | | have disproportionately been the victims of the institutional |
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| 1 | | racism within the Chicago Police Department; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, African-Americans make up roughly one-third of | 3 | | Chicago's population, and yet they were the subjects in 72% of | 4 | | investigative street stops that did not lead to arrests in | 5 | | 2014; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, African-Americans were also the subjects in 46% of | 7 | | traffic stops in 2013 and justifiably feel targeted by those | 8 | | sworn to protect and serve their respective communities; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Chicago taxpayers bear the burden of settlement | 10 | | costs associated with unnecessary detainment, injuries due to | 11 | | the use of excessive force, and wrongful death; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, In December 2015, the United States Department of | 13 | | Justice
began a pattern and practice investigation into: 1) | 14 | | whether the
Chicago Police Department routinely violates the | 15 | | civil rights of citizens;
2) the Department's use of force | 16 | | policies and practices; 3) the
Department's systems of | 17 | | accountability; and 4) whether racial or
ethnic disparities | 18 | | exist in these areas; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, Though trust cannot be built overnight, working | 20 | | toward strong police and community relations is essential in | 21 | | helping to combat violent crime in the City of Chicago; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, While many Chicago Police Department officers | 2 | | commendably perform their duties with the intention of lawfully | 3 | | ensuring public safety and building relationships with the | 4 | | citizens in the communities in which they live and work, the | 5 | | prevalence of predatory policing steeped in bigotry in poor | 6 | | communities of color diminishes those efforts; therefore, be it
| 7 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL | 8 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the Chicago | 9 | | Police Department to fully
cooperate with the U.S. Department | 10 | | of Justice investigation and to begin implementing | 11 | | recommendations outlined in the recent Police
Accountability | 12 | | Task Force report; and be it further
| 13 | | RESOLVED, That, because it is the sworn duty of the Chicago | 14 | | Police
Department to police fairly and not to allow prejudices | 15 | | or animosities
to influence on-duty decisions, we encourage the | 16 | | Department to respect
and uphold the civil rights of all | 17 | | citizens, to be transparent, and to
improve the Department's | 18 | | systems of accountability.
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