The head of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police blasted a proposed consent decree negotiated by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Mayor Rahm Emanuel with civil rights groups that included the ACLU and Black Lives Matter. Union President Kevin Graham called the decree “illegal and invalid,” and “politically motivated” while vowing to fight the plan in court.
“It is important to know that we at the FOP have tried to work with the attorney general of the state of Illinois, and they’ve refused to listen to us,” Graham said during a press conference. “On the other hand, the attorney general was more than willing to listen to groups that were anti-police such as the ACLU and Black Lives Matter.”
Graham continued, “The city and the attorney general have set a dangerous precedent by granting these groups influence into the policy of the Chicago Police Department. Their willingness to do so reveals much about the true nature of this agreement and the magnitude of the threat that it imposes.”
It’s like handing your car keys to a drunk teenager.
A coalition of civil rights organizations suing the city, including Black Lives Matter Chicago, the Chicago Urban League and the NAACP, in May released their own 10-point plan that called for a number of reforms.
Among other things, the plan called for overhauling the police department’s use of force policy and additional officer training in de-escalation strategies. The group also asked to remove officers from public schools and to reserve police intervention for “real and immediate” threats.
And, when it comes to officers’ use of Tasers, the group called for limitations such as prohibiting their use at schools and on pregnant women, children, elderly people, anyone in medical distress and those who are handcuffed or restrained.
The coalition also called for the city to step up its efforts to divert people from the formal justice system by, among other things, limiting arrests for victimless crimes.
Under the coalition’s proposal, training on fair and unbiased policing would be required, and the department’s hiring efforts would have to maintain diversity. The group also called for providing incentives to officers who don’t use excessive force, reduce their number of arrests and treat people fairly.
There should be no objections to additional training of police officers. But mandating restrictions on the use of lethal and non-lethal force is an open invitation to get officers killed.
And reducing the number of arrests sure worked out well in Baltimore, right?
These “reforms” were crafted by people who not only aren’t police officers, they are openly and proudly anti-police. Joining the Chicago police force should not be a suicide pact.
These reforms sound like a bunch of gangbangers sat down with Emanuel and Madigan and gave them a list of ways to enable a crime spree. How could any reasonable politician listen to any “reform” proposals from a group like Black Lives Matter whose anti-police rhetoric has inspired officer assassinations in several cities?
Incredible.
What’s more, the police union was apparently sandbagged on the plan by the state AG.
Graham said he was notified “less than 24 hours ago” that the document would be released. The attorney general, he said, had recently indicated to them “this was far off in the distance and they were far from having this completed.”
Graham said he thinks the city and Madigan’s office are trying to “box in” the federal judge to accept the deal.
That’s the Chicago Way.
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