When I ran for this office, one of my core platforms was establishing a Civilian Police Accountability Council because what I understood then, and I hope that many more understand now, is that as a society, we need to completely re-envision public safety. In the past week, I have received over 10,000 emails from neighbors who want the city to implement CPAC immediately. I understand their concerns. I support city budgets that prioritize health and human services over police spending, and I am a co-sponsor and strong supporter of the CPAC ordinance for immediate police oversight.
We need true accountability and to invest in proactive safety measures while divesting from reactive ones that have proven to not only be ineffective, but have also led to the deaths of far too many innocent Black lives. We need an elected board of neighbors from communities that have been most impacted by police crime to be involved in the process and to help hold police officers accountable for all criminal behavior.
Since the 40th Ward was already a “no” vote on the previous budget and is already a sponsor of CPAC, here are some other steps interested folks from our Ward can take to help police reform in Chicago move forward in this moment: