美国国家公共电台 NPR Chicago Debates If Civilian Groups Should Oversee Police

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Residents of Chicago are wrestling with a question. We've all seen video of alleged¹ police violence against civilians³. But what to do with that knowledge? In Chicago, residents worked to design new ways to monitor police behavior, and now they face a battle over which works best. NPR's Cheryl Corley reports.

CHERYL CORLEY, BYLINE⁴: After months of discussions and meetings, there are four dueling⁵ proposals for a new police watchdog agency in Chicago that more actively⁶ involves citizens. Public hearings resume tomorrow. The first one was contentious⁷ from the very start as people packed an assembly room and argued about the meeting process, and one woman, Armanda Shackleford (ph), clearly angry, charged that police had abused her son.

ARMANDA SHACKLEFORD: This need to stop. Police need to be held accountable.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: That's right.

CORLEY: There are about 18,000 police departments in the U.S. The National Association for Civilian² Oversight⁸ of Law Enforcement, or NACOLE, says there are about 200 civilian groups that monitor police. Barbara Attard, an accountability in police practices consultant⁹, says civilian oversight is always evolving.

BARBARA ATTARD: And it's always a negotiation¹⁰. It's a negotiation between the government and the police union and the community.

CORLEY: Two proposals favored by Chicago's mayor are modeled after civilian oversight groups in Seattle and Los Angeles County. They recommend and review police procedures but serve only in an advisory¹¹ role. Two other proposals offered by community groups give citizens a more hands-on approach. Mecole Jordan is a spokeswoman for the Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability, or GAPA. She says citizens must have more of a say-so when it comes to how Chicago police operate.

MECOLE JORDAN: When policies are drafted outside of community input¹², we have a slew¹³ of consequences that our communities bear the brunt of.

CORLEY: The GAPA proposal calls for electing people to a board which would have the power to select and remove the police superintendent¹⁴. Then there's proposal number four.

LARRY REDMOND: CPAC is about something altogether different.

CORLEY: Larry Redmond is with a group pushing for what it calls a Civilian Police Accountability Council, or CPAC.

REDMOND: We're talking about ending the power structure as it currently exists.

CORLEY: Community control, says Redmond, as opposed to oversight. It's a controversial proposal that gives citizens the power to also investigate officers, as well. Officials with NACOLE says it's often volatile¹⁵ incidents that spurs cities to set up or expand civilian oversight operations. But there's also pushback by police. Kevin Graham, the head of the Fraternal Order of Police in Chicago, says when it comes to monitoring police and the job they do, it should be left up to professionals familiar with police operations.

KEVIN GRAHAM: When you have civilians - hey, I'm sure they watch a lot of television. I'm sure they have well-meaning interests. But the reality is, they don't know how a police department works.

CORLEY: NACOLE says civilian oversight board members often go through extensive training to understand police policy and procedures. As negotiations¹⁶ continue in Chicago over which model is best, all involved say it's a given that there will be a new civilian police oversight body here. It's just one of many steps underway in the attempt to build a more trusting, or at least respectful, relationship between the city's police and residents. Cheryl Corley, NPR News, Chicago.

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