Month: July 2023

Is the Chicago Consent Decree Working? Consent Decrees for Police Reform: The Chicago Experience

Executive Summary

In 2019, the Chicago Police Department (CPD)—one of the most controversial police departments in the nation—was placed under a federally enforced consent decree that mandates sweeping reforms and subjects the department to the supervision of a court-appointed independent monitor. Although implementation of the decree is still ongoing, this report reviews the preliminary evidence of its effects.

Across a variety of indicators, it seems that the consent decree has not had an appreciable effect on police conduct or public perception of the department. And there is at least some evidence that the process leading up to the consent decree exacerbated Chicago’s already-substantial crime problem. While prior research on consent decrees suggests that they can sometimes have an effect, that outcome is far from certain, casting further doubt on the prospects of Chicago’s decree.

Why is the consent decree having little or no measurable impact? It may be the result of unwillingness on the part of CPD and the city to embrace reform. Alternatively, the consent decree’s ineffectiveness may be attributed to preexisting reforms that CPD had already implemented on its own before the decree took effect. Both of these explanations, however, cast doubt on the viability of the federal investigation and consent decree process as a tool for achieving police reform.

Read more HERE

Mayoral transition plan for transportation echoes priorities of advocates, including 20/10 mph speed limit

Last week, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s transition team released a sweeping 223-page report of policy recommendations across multiple sectors, including transportation. 

The transportation subcommittee that penned the corresponding section of the report is comprised of transit agency representatives, community stakeholders and advocates, including members of Active Transportation Alliance, Access Living, and Better Streets Chicago—three of six organizations that banded together as the Safe Streets for All Coalition, which formed to amplify the call for safety for people on foot and bikes in the months leading up to the mayoral election. The subcommittee is chaired by state representative Kam Buckner, whose mayoral run featured the most progressive and comprehensive transportation platform of the nine candidates. 

The resulting twenty pages of transportation recommendations in the report reflect the priorities of a group committed to transforming our current car-centric roadways into a safer, healthier, more equitable system for all. An introductory context section acknowledges how the combined damage of transit disinvestment, destructive highways and a concentration of industrial freight in low-income Black and Brown neighborhoods has saddled residents with poorer health outcomes and less connection to the necessities of life. It also acknowledges the blow Covid-19 dealt to public transportation in ridership and revenue, and the urgent need for new, consistent sources of funding to restore and improve Chicago’s transit system.

Read more HERE

2023 Mayoral Transition Report HERE

Crime, a Symposium: Looking Back, Looking Forward

What happened in 2022 and why? Where are we headed in 2023?  Ten experts weigh in:

Articles in this symposium:

1. Fix Public Policy or Pay a Price – Peter Moskos and John Hall 2. Please Stop Blaming Bail Reform – John Pfaff 3. What Crime Trends Are in Store This Year? – Thomas Abt 4. The Bronx is Combining Accountability and Rehabilitation – Darcel Clark 5. The Smart Path to a Safer Brooklyn – Eric Gonzalez 6. Act Now, or Expect More of the Same – Charles Fain Lehman 7. A Tale of Two Divergent Paths – John K. Roman and Anthony Washburn 8. Our Crime Debate Remains Tragically Shortsighted – Jeffrey A. Butts

See the original article HERE

Arrests in Philadelphia nosedive while reported incidents increase

Interesting article on what is going on in Philadelphia. Is it the Krasner Effect? Read and decide.

Reported crime is up, arrests in Philadelphia are down. Experts disagree on the cause. A. Benjamin Mannes and Todd Shepherd break it down.
— Read on broadandliberty.com/2023/07/12/arrests-in-philadelphia-nosedive-while-reported-incidents-increased-over-last-five-years/

Minneapolis Safe and Thriving Communities Report

Here is a new report by Harvard on how policing in Minneapolis can be improved. This is a report in addition to the DOJ investigation of the Minneapolis PD.

Also check out a new article in the City-Journal how the DOJ Minneapolis Report is a stunt to disguise as an impartial investigation. Maybe the Louisville DOJ Investigation too??? Check it out! Most everything on policing from the City-Journal on Policing is worth a read.

Get the report HERE