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DOJ Report Makes Case for Urgent Police Reform, Oversight
In the last nine months, two reports have been issued detailing far-reaching problems within the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and police oversight system. In April, the Police Accountability Task Force, in which BPI played an active role, released its
unsparingly critical report
. Last month, following a year-long investigation, the United States Department of Justice issued
its own repor
t concluding that Chicago police officers systematically violate the Constitution by using unnecessary and unreasonable force, particularly against African-American men. Together, the two reports provide a roadmap for reforming a badly broken system.
The DOJ report describes in detail failures in training and supervision with regard to use of force, finding that CPD often fails to properly investigate and punish police officers who cause harm. The report emphasizes that these failures make both civilians and police officers less safe, and concludes that some of the City's initial reform efforts have fallen far short.
In almost every city where DOJ has found problems, the police department and DOJ have entered into a consent decree -- a legal agreement to make specific changes. Overseen by federal judges and court-appointed monitors, consent decrees have been an essential tool in reform efforts. The report warns that reform in Chicago is unlikely to happen without an independent monitor and a court order.
But while DOJ and the City agreed to engage in good faith negotiations to develop a consent decree, the new U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been a vigorous and vocal opponent of federal participation in such reform efforts. BPI is now working to identify ways to accelerate reform absent a consent decree, should DOJ and the City fail to reach agreement.
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Early Learning Coalition Brings Science Enrichment to Altgeld-Riverdale Kids
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Aldridge Elementary School students get an engaging lesson about simple machines at Kids Science Labs.
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Each month, first, second, and third graders from Aldridge and Carver elementary schools in the Altgeld-Riverdale community board a bus bound for Kids Science Labs in the South Loop for an hour of discovery and fun. This science enrichment program is just one component of our Altgeld-Riverdale Early Learning Initiative
--an effort to create a comprehensive community-based system to support young children in Altgeld-Riverdale.
"Our partnership with Kids Science Labs and Chicago-based Youth Guidance gives kids an opportunity for hands-on learning and experimenting," said Susannah Levine, Director of BPI's Education and Early Learning program. "We hope this will nurture a lifelong love for science and creativity."
Now in its third year, this partnership began with Aldridge school. In January it was expanded to include children from Carver. We are grateful for the Albert Pick, Jr. Fund's generous support of this program.
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A new playlot adjacent to newly rehabbed Altgeld Gardens apartments will be ready for children come springtime.
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Significant improvements slated for Altgeld Gardens in 2017
Some two years after CHA and BPI reached a legal agreement, CHA is poised to begin more significant development of new and renovated community facilities in Altgeld Gardens. In addition to the rehabilitation of 218 Altgeld public housing apartments, the agreement calls for the construction of a new family resource center with a much larger library, a new childcare center, major renovations to the Carver Park Fieldhouse and the Gautreaux Childcare Center, plus newly paved sidewalks, streets, and bicycle paths.
CHA has hired architects to design the major renovations planned for the Carver Park Fieldhouse and the Gautreaux Childcare Center. It plans to select architects for the new family resource center and library, as well as for the current community center (the "CYC"), during the next few months.
CHA plans to host a series of community meetings in the coming months to gather stakeholder input on design and construction phasing. All projects are scheduled to be completed in 2018.
With the completion of such important facility improvements, coupled with the extensive rehabilitation of residential apartments, all Altgeld residents will have the opportunity to live in a much improved and safer community.
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Meet Nora Mahlberg, Skadden Fellow
Hometown
: Madison, WI
Education
: BA Carleton College; JD Harvard Law School
Why she applied for a Skadden Fellowship at BPI
: Most of my work prior to and during law school involved providing assistance to individual tenants and homeowners going through eviction and/or foreclosure. Over the course of my five years working on those issues, I became frustrated that I could not address the underlying causes of my clients' recurring struggles in securing safe, permanent, and affordable housing. I wanted to create a Skadden Fellowship project that would work on a systemic solution to that problem. Adam Gross and I developed a project that would help build the capacity of the Cook County Land Bank in acquiring vacant and abandoned properties and facilitating the best outcome for those properties given community needs. Working with Adam at BPI on this project seemed like a natural fit given his involvement in the creation of the Cook County Land Bank and his work on other affordable housing policy initiatives in Chicago.
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