I support increased openness and accountability in all municipal operations.
I do support a more independent Authority, but believe we must focus on evidence that a very
small number of officers account for a disproportionate share of cases and that those cases which are “one-time” offenses should be able to be referred to more evidence based programs for correction to minimize losing expensive trained man/woman power
The Chicago Justice Project has done some great work around this issue. They have taken the
position that the current board should actually be elected by citizens of the City of Chicago.
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I believe that the only way to ensure the integrity of the Independent Police Review Authority is to
make it operate more independently from the police department. However, I also strongly believe
that a civilian authority should be established to review serious complaint of police misconduct
and to recommend solutions. Overall, I think that we must establish stronger accountability for the high number of police shootings of civilians and other questions of misconduct. However, I believe that the real solutions require the right leadership in the city to drive true culture change throughout the Chicago Police Department. While we can review questions of misconduct and work to hold officers accountable, we must send a stronger message throughout the system to truly improve their ability to work with communities and build trust.
The Independent Police Review Authority should be entirely community based. It should be completely separate from the Police Department.