The Chicago Police Department's (CPD) response to the George Floyd protests turn out to be chaotic, unorganized, and under prepared. This comes from a review of the CPD"s response from a report recently released by the Deputy Inspector General for Public Safety (DPSIG), Deborah Witzburg.

Floyd was murdered on a Monday and despite spreading protests around the country and open source intelligence (social media) CPD Superintendent Brown and other officials within the CPD failed to realize the scale of the protests and unrest Chicago would experience during the upcoming weekend and over the next several weeks.

The Minneapolis police's murder of George Floyd was the spark that the powder keg of job insecurity, housing insecurity, and health insecurity that the pandemic brought on was waiting for. Despite this Superintendent Brown and other officials completely discounted the intelligence despite the fact that other police agencies like the Illinois State Police and Cook County Sheriff's Office reviewed the same intelligence and knew the response to what happened to George Floyd was not going to be good.

The report also talks about the massive disorganization throughout the ranks within the CPD. They were unclear about the tactics that had been authorized and what general orders were in affect and guiding their actions. According to the report this led to massive numbers of protestors being arrested for no reason or released from custody when they should have been held and prosecuted.

The report also details a massive under reporting of the use of force by officers throughout the first 10 days of protests and unrest. Anyone paying attention to local TV news or what was streaming on social media could easily find uses of force that greatly out numbered those officially reported by officers.

Despite all of this the Mayor, Superintendent Brown, and the President of the Chicago Police Board Ghian Foreman to hold a press conference on Saturday morning after the first night of protests and praise the actions of officers. The report by the DPSIG shows just how poorly things within the CPD actually went on the first night of protests responding to the murder of Floyd.

Today our guest is Deborha Witzburg, Deputy Inspector General for Public Safety. She will be discussing her recent report that takes a closer look at the Chicago Police Department's response to George Floyd protests.

On today's show we discuss covering the George Floyd protests from the streets with a former Marine that brings with him a unique perspective on the freedoms being exercised by protestors and what it meant to him to be one of the people that put his life on the line to fight for those rights.

Our conversation is framed both from what our guest reported during the protests and some of findings of a report recently released by the Deputy Inspector General for Public Safety on the Chicago Police Department's (CPD) handling of the protests. It is pretty remarkable how much of our guest's experiences seem to mimic the findings in the report.

If you read the report you will see just how unprepared the CPD was and how that served to cause confusion throughout the ranks w1ithin the Department. This type of confusion within the chain of command as well as what tactics had or had not been authorized creates environment where misconduct and abuse can spread unchecked. The CPD seemed particularly unable to understand from the open source intelligence available to them that the protests stemming from the murder of George Floyd were going to be large and unruly. All of these mistakes combined for an atmosphere where police were going to be highly likely to use force that was not inline with CPD guidelines.

Our guest today is freelance journalist and now 1L law student Jonathan Ballew. Jonathan hit the streets for the first major protests responding to the murder of George Floyd. Jonathan continued to go out and report on protests across the city night after night, documented the actions of the CPD in real time through his Twitter account. Jonathan not only documented abuse by officers but was a victim himself as he was pepper sprayed live on Twitter by a CPD officer despite him showing his press credentials to the officer before being assaulted.

Being that Jonathan served for several years in the US Marine Corps he has a unique perspective on the George Floyd protests and the rights protestors were exercising right in front of him. Unlike most reporters Jonathan has put his life on the line protecting the very rights the protests were exercising during the George Floyd protests. This leads us to discuss Jonathan's response to seeing the American flag burned on the streets during the protests.

This episode of our podcast comes directly from our Chicago Justice Show that is streamed live every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on our Facebook Page, Twitter Page, YouTube Channel, and Twitch Channel. You can watch archived versions of our show on our YouTube Channel. Below is the video from our interview with Jonathan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W5TLK-sMpE

In this episode we dive in the the reforms found in HB 3653 passed by the Illinois General Assembly in mid January. Specifically we focus on the front end reforms or those reforms that mostly deal with policing that are found in HB 3653.

For those unaware this nearly 800 page bill is what is considered an omnibus bill. This means it is made up of many different bills up together to passed as really as a package. Many if not most of the reforms found in bills like this have been introduced on their own or as part of smaller packages and didn't pass. These omnibus bills like HB 3653 usually pass when their is a change in public sentiment as there is an opportunity of major reforms to pass despite stiff political opposition within the legislative body and within special interests.

It is pretty clear that HB 3653 contains some major reforms to the entire criminal justice system throughout Illinois. Due to it containing a bunch of smaller bills the scope of the reforms are significant. Does this mean the there is not room for further progress, no. There is plenty of room to move the state forward in very important areas. That said there is plenty to like in HB 3653 especially regarding policing.

Today Sarah Staudt Senior Policy Analyst & Staff Attorney at the Chicago Council of Lawyers, We talk in-depth about the reforms around policing including:

it can now be a class 3 felony for officers to purposely turn off their body cameras or dash cameras if they are trying to hide misconduct

it can now be a class 3 felony to purposely write a fraudulent police report trying to cover up misconduct. It can also be a class 3 felony if you have knowledge of a fellow officer engaging in this conduct and failing to report it.

Uniform Peace Officers Disciplinary Act 0- Remove requirement to provide complainant’s name to officers - no sworn affidavit is required to file a complaint against an officer - creates anonymous complaint policy

establishes legislative intent to create a statewide use of force standards for law enforcement agencies.

We discuss all of these reforms and more in today's episode.

The impact on sentencing and incarceration from the recently passed omnibus bill HB 3653 in very significant. We discuss many of the these specific reforms on today's show. Our guest is Jobi Cates, Founder and Executive Director of Restore Justice Illinois.

This large bill is packed with reforms. It is far from everything the state legislature could have done to reform the criminal justice system or just the incarceration system we have in Illinois but on many fronts this bill equals a few good steps in the direction we need to go.

On today's show we focus exclusively on the back end of the justice system and look at how this bill specifically reforms how the state of Illinois sentences people convicted of committing crimes and how the incarceration system has been impacted.

We discuss the changes to the sentencing and incarcerations systems including:

the felony murder rule adjustments

adjustments to how we define someone to be a habitual criminal

Sentencing Credits

felony drug crimes

changes to mandatory supervised release

This is a very significant list and there are even more reforms packed in to the legislation that provide real needed changes to the sentencing and incarceration systems. Is it far enough? No. There is still plenty of work that needs to be but Illinois has taken some good steps forward.

 

 

For a discussion about how three innovative community based programs are fighting gun violence acorss Chicago check out our this podcast episode featuring representatives from Chicago CRED, READI Chicago, and Communities Partnering for Peace (CP4P) here.

Understanding the impact of the intersection of the multiple problems that communities are facing on the south and west sides is not something that politicians and the media in Chicago have been very good at. The media has a systemic issue with allowing local alderman off the hook for their votes on financial issues that contribute to creating the conditions in these communities that drive crime.

On today's show we talk with three organizations that are doing the long-term work on the streets in these communities that have a chance of really making a difference. Sadly, until the mayor and city council step and do their part to realign the economics of these communities there will be a need for these organizations to do their work.

Leading up to 2020 Chicago had seen a few straight years of reductions in gun violence. It is not clear what those reductions should be contributed to. This is always the billion dollar question as deceitful police agencies and corrupt politicians take credit for these reductions absent any actual evidence they had anything to do with it. The media unfortunately just amplifies this propaganda rather than righteously criticizing it.

For those that are interested in trying to determine where 2020 fits in my advice is to not try to consider it at all. The reductions previously to 2020 have to be considered independent of 2020 because of the massive disruption in the social fabric of our society that was 2020 is not comparable to any year in American in the last 100 years. When you see the media and politicians trying talk about 2020 please be very skeptical. It is pretty clear that they will exploit what has happened in 2020 to their own ends.

Our guests for today's show discussing gun violence reductions are:

Vaughn Bryant, Executive Director, Communities Partnering for Peace CP4P

Eddie Bocanegra, Senior Director, Heartland Alliance READI Chicago,

Peter Cunningham, Senior Communications Consultant for Chicago CRED.

In today’s show we discuss two really bad articles from Fran Spielman and the propaganda coming from Superintendent David Brown’s YouTube series.

Spielman is known through our Chicago as a reporter that is seeking nothing but sensational headlines and salacious quotes that can make headlines. We discuss two recent articles from her covering Alderman Beale’s cop house idea and carjackings. Neither article is good and clearly demonstrates she is all about featuring quotes rather than digging in and doing the legwork necessary to really inform the public on these topics. In short, it is typical Spielman.

We also discuss Chicago Police Superintendent Brown’s YouTube series titled “Real Talk with Superintendent Brown“. The one we are focusing on today was uploaded in November 2020 and is focused on CPD’s reform efforts.

We was warned by media sources in Dallas that Brown has a strong dislike for the media and he will do anything he can to avoid having to deal with the media and get his message out to the public. We were ready to be on the lookout for these types of maneuvers by Brown. The YouTube series is a fine idea it just needs to be much more focused on facts rather than just spreading the CPD’s propaganda. We were also warned that Brown is not terribly tethered to the facts. Something that has been abundantly clear in his first year in Chicago.

The second half of the show we discuss:

Mary Mitchell’s call for expanding the powers of DCFs rather than using those resources in directly supporting communities.

An article bvy Pascal Sabino from Block Club Chicago covering community groups helping CPS find alternatives to cops in schools.

The Sun-Times’s Matthew Hendrickson’s article on a CPD officer being charged with official misconduct for chocking a suspect in 2019.

Bail reform is a very hot topic in Cook County despite the fact that there have been very few facts driving the discussion.

Bail was created to assure that people show up for court proceedings after being charged with a crime. The thought was that forcing people to put up a some of cash would make sure they show up for court. If they did show up for their court hearings despite the outcome of the proceedings they would receive the money they put up back.

It is pretty easy to discern that is system was discriminatory against the poor because even low amounts of bail could very easily be impossible for the poor to pay This would result in the poor being forced to serve time in jail when the rich did not even though they were charged with the same offense, had the same criminal history, and were of equal risk of re-offending. This is the very reason advocates for bail reform sought to change this system.

Despite the lies of critics bail was not set up to make sure people were incarcerated pre-trial. It was created to assure a defendant’s attendance at his/her court hearings. The reality is that most defendants show up for court at a very high percentage regardless of whether or not they put up cash bail. This fact flies in the fact of accusations of critics but facts don’t seem to be something that critics respect.

Today we sit down with two professors form Loyola University Chicago’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology:

Dr. Dave Olsen – Co-director of the Center for Criminal Justice Research, Policy and Practice

Dr. Don Stemen – Associate Professor and Chairperson

We are discussing their first empirical analysis of the impact of bail reform on crime and violence in Chicago. Their report is titled “Dollars and Sense in Cook County – Examining the Impact of General Order 18.8A on Felony Bond Court Decisions, Pretrial Release, and Crime”

This conversation comes from our Chicago Justice Show that is streamed on our Facebook Page, Twitter Page, YouTube Channel, and our Twitch Channel. Here is the video of this conversation from our YouTube Channel.

You can find more information about our show including how to become a sponsor by clicking the image below.

Sexual violence in Chicago is a significantly under-covered crime in Chicago and is only really covered if the media can exploit and sensationalize the event.

Today we chat with Executive Director Erin Walton and Director of Programs and Policy Sarah Layden from Resilience. Our discussion covers defining what exactly is sexual violence, how often it occurs, and the Chicago/Cook County justice system’s response.

Despite how the Chicago media covers these crimes most sexual violence perpetrators are known to the survivor. This reality is proven both in what advocates from agencies like resilience see everyday in their work supporting survivors and national level survey research like the National Crime Victimization Survey.

While the gap has slightly narrowed in recent years for many years the gap between known and unknown offenders was 9-1. In our 2013 study on a year of domestic violence and sexual assault coverage in the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times we learned that less than 4% of the articles on sexual assault were about assaults at the hands of known offenders. This is obviously completely opposite of how they occur in Chicago.

The issue with the problematic media coverage is that if the only types of sexual violence that is represented in the news is ultra violence stranger assaults this will lead to the false belief that less violent assaults committed by known offenders is not really a crime. This is why it is important for the Chicago media to responsibly cover the range of sexual assault in Chicago.

The important work done on the streets and in the hospitals every day by advocates for survivors is definitely an ignored part of our justice system. There are far too many facets of the justice system that traditional crime reporters only call on when they find out about an incident that can be exploited and sensationalized for clicks.

This is why we are so happy that Erin and Sarah decided to sit down with us for this vital discussion.

The affidavit override rule function within the police accountability system should have been a very powerful tool to help leaders bring in real accountability. A recent report released by the Deputy Inspector General for Public Safety (DPSIG) documents that the power was rarely if ever used for many years despite evidence being contained in investigative files that would have supported the application of this power.

From 2004 until the moment the Governor signs HB 3653 in to law it has been a requirement in Chicago for anyone, who is not a police officer, who wants to file a complaint against a Chicago Police officer to sign a sworn affidavit under the threat of perjury that the contents of their complaint were truthful. Complaints filed without an affidavit are supposed to receive a limited investigation and if evidence can be found to support the complaint the leader of the investigative agency is supposed to seek approval of an override to the affidavit.

From 2007 to some time in 2018 the police accountability system in Chicago was was made up of the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) and the CPD’s Internal Affairs Division (IAD). In 2018 IPRA replaced by the Citizen Office of Police Accountability (COPA). This report specially details how both IPRA & IAD almost never used this authority provided to them in law by the Illinois General Assembly.

The DPSIG reviewed a randomly selected group of case files from IPRA/COPA and IAD from the time period of 2016-2018. This time period covered the switch over to COPA and the first months of COPA’s operations. The results identified multiple occasions over the two years were all three investigative bodies possessed evidence in the case file that was more than sufficient to support seeking an override of the affidavit rule and the investigative agency failed to do so.

In this episode we welcome back DPSIG Deborah Witzburg back to the show to discuss this review of the affidavit override rule.

You can watch a video of the live streamed video below as well as videos from Witzburg’s two prior appearances.

Here is the video from her appearance discussing the “COPA’s Compliance with Chicago’s Video Release Policy”

Oct 7, 2020

This is WItrzburg’s first appearance discussing “CPD’s Management & Production of Records”.

Too little effort from the Chicago Police Department (CPD) is going in to responding to sex crimes in Chicago according to a new report from the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE).

Today we sit down with Madeline Behr, Policy Manager, at CAASE to discuss a report she authored titled "Too Little, Too Late? The CPD's Response to Sex Crimes".

The report contained some startling statistics to back up CAASE's claims that the CPD is doing far too little to respond to sex crimes. Here are couple of those statistics:

80-90% of sexual harm reports to the CPD over the past 10 years did not result in an arrest.

10-20% of survivors that saw an arrest in their case often had to wait weeks or months from the time of their assault to when their assailant was detained.

The failures by the CPD are strongly correlated with the media's failures on covering the issue. The Chicago media pays far too little attention to these crimes unless they can be exploited for clicks, scare their audience, or drive a political agenda. This is exactly what we found in our 2013 study of violence against women coverage in the Chicago Tribune and Sun Times. You can find that study here.

Behr and I discuss a range of issues spurred by the findings of her report including how survivors are exploited by those wishing to derail discussions about defunding the police and standing up alternative responses to problems in our communities.