Accountability task force head wants more transparency on reforms

The head of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s task force on police accountability said Wednesday that any reforms the mayor introduces will likely fall flat without more public input.

“One of the critical next steps should have been a broad outreach to a range of groups, individuals, community leaders and activists to invite the best ideas for filling in the details …,” said Lori Lightfoot, speaking to reporters at City Hall. “That has not happened.”

Lightfoot, who headed the mayor’s Police Accountability Task Force, said she sent a letter to the mayor this week urging greater involvement “with all the communities that will be deeply affected by the success or failure of these efforts, especially those on the South and West sides of the city.”

The letter is signed by Lightfoot, Chicago Urban League President and CEO Shari Runner and Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, among others.

“Obviously, some steps have been taken, but there needs to be a comprehensive plan with real, substance and a timeline for implementation … ,” Lightfoot told reporters. “We are in an historic time in our city. The old ways of doing business and the status quo have simply failed us and must be abandoned.”

Top mayor aides have been holding closed-door briefings with small groups of aldermen in recent days to flesh out details of the mayor’s plan to abolish the Independent Police Review Authority. Abolishing IPRA was one of the recommendations of the task force that Lightfoot headed.

Just prior to Wednesday’s press conference, Lightfoot received, she said, assurances from Emanuel’s office that public hearings would be held before the City Council votes on the mayor’s plan for reform.

“That would be great, and if that happens, that would be a positive step,” Lightfoot said. “But much more needs to be done.”

Emanuel created the task force that Lightfoot headed when he fired police Supt. Garry McCarthy in the wake of protests over the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald.

“This is not about the mayor. This is not about me,” she said. “This is about the people.”

The mayor’s office responded to the demand for public hearings by insisting that public input is an “important part of this process” and that Emanuel has never suggested otherwise.

“The city’s new police accountability system has to be trusted, which is why the entire reform process has been public from the very beginning. The Police Accountability Task Force themselves held a series of public hearings already to ensure that the new accountability structure reflects the input of a range of individuals and groups,” Emanuel was quoted as saying in an emailed statement.

“The City Council has already agreed to build on that public process by holding public hearings on the ordinance to ensure every resident has the opportunity to voice their opinion. With these important contributions from the public, the framework for the new structure will be driven by core principles that lie at the heart of the police accountability: independence, integrity, transparency and citizen participation.”

Budget Committee Chairman Carrie Austin (34th) and Public Safety Committee Chairman Ariel Reboyras (30th) underscored the mayor’s promise of public input at what they called “an incredibly important moment in our city’s history as we work to revamp Chicago’s police accountability structure.”

The chairmen noted that police reform introduced in April by Aldermen Leslie Hairston (5th) and Jason Ervin (28th) — one abolishing IPRA, the other creating an inspector general for public safety — got the ball rolling toward “structural reforms” that will “become part of the larger framework for the final ordinance.”

“Building on that, we will continue to work with our colleagues and members of the public in order to ensure the ordinance reflects the input of a wide range of stakeholders,” the Reboyras/ Austin statement said.

“In the upcoming months, consistent with the process set for the other ordinances, City Council will hold hearings to ensure that all members of the public who would like to share their input are able to do so.”

Wednesday’s news conference underscored the no-win political box Emanuel is in when it comes to reforming the Chicago Police Department at a time when he’s also trying to boost the morale of rank-and-file officers fearful of becoming the subject of the next YouTube video.

When he initially offered a timid response to the scathing report by his handpicked Task Force on Police Accountability that stopped short of abolishing IPRA, the mayor was accused of going too slow.

Now that he has reversed himself and embraced the most controversial recommendations, the chief architect of that report wants Emanuel to slow down and get public input.