PRESS RELEASE

Coalition for Police Contracts Accountability Calls for Contract Reform on Laquan Day

For Immediate Release: October 20, 2017

Press Contact: Drea Hall, (312) 687-8579

On the anniversary of the deadly shooting of Laquan McDonald by Chicago Police Department (CPD) officer Jason Van Dyke, the Coalition for Police Contracts Accountability (CPCA) recognizes the tragic events that took place and the pain that reverberated through our City. Three years later, the CPCA repeats its call for reforms to Chicago’s police union contracts that will end the code of silence and hold officers accountable for misconduct.

Provisions in Chicago’s police union contracts allow officers to lie about misconduct. After Laquan McDonald was shot, officers had 24 hours to speak with each other before submitting corroborating false statements to the Independent Police Review Authority. These statements allowed Jason Van Dyke to avoid any charges until a year later when the video of the shooting was released to the public.

“Chicago’s police union contracts protected Van Dyke and the officers who lied for him. The contracts make it harder for officers to do the right thing and easy for them to get away with misconduct.” said Drea Hall, Director of Organizing at Community Renewal Society and leader with CPCA, “CPCA’s organizing, community, and policy groups have identified 14 points in the contracts that must change if the City wants real reform.”

While we make space on this day to honor the memory of Laquan’s life, we renew our call for action from our elected officials to ensure this tragic story does not repeat itself.

The CPCA calls on Mayor Emanuel to publicly endorse our Coalition’s 14 recommendations to reform Chicago’s police union contracts. We also call on our aldermen to reject any contract proposals that do not include our recommendations for reform.

ABOUT CPCA: The Coalition for Police Contracts Accountability (CPCA)  is comprised of seasoned organizations in Chicago’s organizing and policy-making landscape, many of whom have been working, some for many years, alongside other organizations, coalitions and alliances pushing for transparency within government, criminal justice reform, and police accountability. CPCA’s 14 recommendations for reforming police contracts can be found at  https://www.cpcachicago.org/the-recommendations/

CPCA’s coalition members include ACLU of Illinois, Action Now Institute, ONE Northside, Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), A Just Harvest, Southsiders Organized for Unity & Liberation (SOUL), Better Government Association, BPI, BYP100, Chicago Council of Lawyers, Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Community Renewal Society, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (JCUA), Workers Center for Racial Justice

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Original Source: https://www.cpcachicago.org/coalition-calls-for-contract-reform-on-laquan-day