The Rochester police Accountability Board, like the Citizens Network of Protection, would have the power to investigate civilian complaints independently.  They both have subpoena power for getting information for their investigations.  They will determine whether individual officers have committed misconduct.  
The citizens of Rochester by referendum put in place their Police Accountability Board.  CNP is asking you the citizens of Evanston to do the same thing in voting to created the Evanston Board of Police Oversight, Accountability, and Transparency.  CNP’s proposal goes further than the Rochester Police Accountability Board in that it would be an independent agency with no connection to the Police Department or the City Government. 
The Rochester citizens put in place a board that will oversee the police conduct as they engage with the citizens.   The citizens in Evanston can do the same for their citizens that need assistance to fight the system.
  The unofficial voting results indicated that the referendum on the proposed board passed by more than a 3-to-1 margin: 75 to 25 percent. Nearly 17,800 voters approved the measure, while nearly 6,600 voters voted against it.  

The Citizens’ Network of Protection asks you to read the attached documents.  After reading them, we ask you to take a stand as to what your voice will be loud or silent.  

If you agree with CNP and want to make a loud noise, call, write the City Council urging them to vote NO on Ordinance 79-O-19.   The only way that we can convince the Council to vote NO is to speak loud as one voice. Thank you for your effort in supporting this campaign to defeat  Ordinance 79-O-19, which does not serve the citizens. 
Betty Ester, President, Citizens’ Network of Protect

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.

Download the PDF here