AustinTalks (http://austintalks.org/tag/policing/)
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.
The Chicago Police Department is seeking volunteers for its Use of Force Working Group. The deadline to apply is Feb. 29.
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.
The 15th Police District strategic plan for 2020 will be discussed at the event, which will be held Oct. 24 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Zoe Life Ministries International, 5155 W. Madison. This is the first of two conversations that will be held.
Ernest Cato III will serve as deputy chief of patrol (North) overseeing nine districts on the North and West sides. Replacing Cato in the 15th District will be Yolanda Talley, who served as a watch operations lieutenant in the 15th District for two years and has 25 years of experience with the Chicago Police Department.
Suggestions were offered this past weekend at a community meeting organized by the independent monitoring team put in place as part of a federal court consent decree the Chicago Police Department is under. Sitting at tables in the Austin Town Hall auditorium, about 30 people answered two questions: What are your hopes for the consent decree, and what are your concerns?
There will also be roundtable discussions to gather the perspectives of Austin residents to ensure the monitoring efforts – part of the consent decree the Chicago Police Department is under – “reflect the priorities of Chicago’s diverse community members.” Refreshments will be served at the meeting, which will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Sept. 21 at Austin Town Hall, 5610 W. Lake St.