AustinTalks (http://austintalks.org/tag/chicago-police-department/)
Last week’s meeting, held via Zoom was the second of two “community conversations” the Chicago Police Department is holding as it crafts a strategic plan for 2021. Each district is coming up with a plan as part of the consent decree the department signed in March 2019 with the U.S. Department of Justice.
If true reforms do not happen right away, we need to eliminate our current system, writes state Rep. La Shawn Ford. The Austin lawmaker says this is not about individual police officers or bad apples; this is about a system that is inherently flawed.
While fewer people are illegally gathering than before, 15th District Commander Yolanda Talley says residents must stop congregating outside. “People in our community need to take this a lot more seriously,” Talley said of the state’s nearly 3-week-old, stay-at-home order.
The Chicago Police Department has expanded its narcotics arrest diversion program to the 15th District in Austin. It helps individuals apprehended for opioid-related offenses by allowing them to seek treatment when they’re arrested.
The Chicago Police Department is seeking volunteers for its Use of Force Working Group. The deadline to apply is Feb. 29.
Mirroring a trend across Chicago, Austin reported 10 fewer homicides in 2019. Forty-seven people were killed, down from 57 in 2018, according to the Chicago Sun-Times homicide tracker.
The only way to determine if someone’s name is in the database is to submit a Freedom of Information Act request to the police department – something more than 120 people have already done. Earlier this month, a FOIA workshop was held to help Austin residents learn how to submit a FOIA request.
The free FOIA clinic and know your rights workshop, organized by the Chicago Westside NAACP branch, will be held at 7 p.m. Dec. 12 at Sankofa Cultural Center, 5820 W. Chicago Ave. Dinner will be served.
All West Side stakeholders are invited to the meet and greet with 15th District Commander Yolanda Talley 9 a.m. Dec. 9 at Sankofa Cultural Arts & Business Center, 5820 W. Chicago Ave. Breakfast will be served.
West Side residents who attended the meeting were asked two questions: What are the key problems that you would like police to address, and how would you like the police to engage more with the community? Another community conversation to discuss the strategic plan the Chicago Police Department is developing will be held Nov. 12 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Zoe Life Ministries, 3 S. Laramie Ave.