Earlier Thursday, police announced there were 90 homicides in Chicago during August, making it the most violent single month in the city since August 1996.
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Alderman Scott Waguespack said Monday some of his colleagues are pushing for the city Law Department to control the new agency’s expenditures and how the agency’s outside lawyers would be chosen. They also called for guaranteed funding for the police inspector general – aldermen have suggested the same for the new civilian oversight agency – and said the city needs to promise greater transparency in the release of reports on alleged police abuse of power.
Many aldermen balked at the mayor’s original plan to call for a City Council vote on his plan one day after a public hearing on September 13, and Emanuel has since said he’s willing to give aldermen more time.
Ald. Patrick Thompson (11th) agreed the council shouldn’t rush in its effort to replace the Independent Police Review Authority.
“But the path forward will be about more than just the words on a page, it will be about implementation, culture and building community trust in the system of police accountability”, he said.
The task force also asked the department and city leaders to acknowledge and abandon a “code of silence” and years of racist practices and specifically asked the city to rework its labor contract with the Fraternal Order of Police.
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Still, Emanuel can ill afford the optics of a significant number of “no” votes from a divided council on a piece of legislation he hopes will show he’s being pro-active in dealing with the problems at the Police Department, so aldermen could have leverage to change the ordinance. Both aldermen serve on the council’s public safety committee.
