Our Trouble with Citizen Police Review Commission Ordinance 79-0-19
The Evanston City Council will vote on October 28th on ordinance to create the Citizen Police Review Commission. If this ordinance passes, it will mean that the systems of police accountability will be unchanged from the way things are today. It is lacking the power and scope of responsibilities necessary to provide meaning oversight, accountability, and transparency of the Evanston Police Department. This ordinance lacks community empowerment. The Commission does not have subpoena power and the Police Chief isn’t even required to give an explanation if they disagree with a finding or recommendation of the Commission. Despite a mayoral appointed task force that found that many people in Evanston do not know about the complaint process, this ordinance does not require the Commission to do community outreach to inform people about the complaint process or to discuss issues that are driving a wedge between the community and police. The charts below highlight the major errors we believe the Evanston city council is making if they pass the ordinance as written.