Earlier last month, multiple journalism
sources posted articles shedding light on the issue of racism in the Chicago
Police Department. Protesters took to the streets after a video was posted of a
white CDP officer fatally shooting a 16-year-old black boy walking down the
street. This was not the first incident; in fact it was an unfortunately
regular occurrence in the previous months. A task force was set up to look into
the department’s behaviours, after a public outcry over public shootings, said
many officers had no regard for the lives of people of colour. Chicago Police
Dept. is the third largest in the United States.
In the report from the task force it said, "The
community's lack of trust in CPD is justified, there is substantial evidence
that people of color -- particularly African-Americans -- have had
disproportionately negative experiences with the police over an extended period
of time.” "Some people do
not feel safe in any encounter with the police," the report
said. "Some do not feel like they have the ability to walk in their
neighborhoods or drive in their cars without being aggressively confronted by
the police. The consistent theme of these deeply held beliefs came from a
significant cross-section of people: men and women, young, middle-aged and
older, doctors, lawyers, teachers and other professionals, students, and
everyday workers." Data presented shows that:
- 74% of the 404 people shot by the Chicago police between 2008 and 2015, were African-American.
- 72% of the thousands of investigative street stops that did not lead to arrest in Summer 2014, were African-American, and 17% Hispanic.
- 3 out of 4 people whom the Chicago police officers used Taser guns on between 2012 and 2015, were African American.
- African American drivers made up 46% of police traffic stops in 2013.
- Even though, African Americans only make up 33% of the city’s population, approximately one-third white, black, Hispanic.
Although for many people of Chicago, the
task force may have simply stated the obvious. It is still a step in the right
direction, that the corruption has been publicly and legally acknowledged.
Which is something that is not often done, as this is a clear example of institutional
racism, which tends to spread through all of the judicial system. The task
force report was released around the same time that the Chicago Police appointed
a new commanding officer. Coincidentally, the new superintendent, Eddie Johnson,
is African-American and has been an officer in the department for 27 years. After
being sworn in he said, “"We
have racism in America. We have racism in Chicago. So it stands to reason we
would have some racism within our agency. My goal is to root that out.” I'm hoping that this new appointment, will bring a positive change to the departments behaviour, and to the city as a whole.
5. I recently watched a Noisey documentary on the attacks of white police officers to black Americans within Chicago, and I was legitimately appalled. Chief Keef is an infamous rapper, established within Chicago, who makes explicit music based around the racism and true and factual violent acts from police officers, and white authoritative figures throughout society. Keef discusses the murders of friends and family members, shot dead by racist police officers. It is heart breaking. The worst part being that the rapper, and all of his music has been banned within Chicago, due to his music gathering a huge fandom and support from black American's for his bravery of speaking out. This shows the shame, and insecurity that the police officers have, as they fear his music will create and fuel political and social uproar, potentially damaging their status and high authoritative positions. Horrific! Great and very relevant read.
ReplyDelete