Other big cities watching to see how Chicago handles police accountability

Who are the aldermen courageous enough to bring forth a formidable ordinance that says Chicago no longer will accept business as usual — tepid police accountability?

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Chicago_Police_Laquan_McDonald.jpg

Chicago police officers line up outside the District 1 central headquarters on Nov. 24, 2015 during a protest of the police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, in Chicago.

AP Photo/Paul Beaty

On March 21, 2021 the CST Editorial Board had this to say about about a proposed ordinance regarding oversight of the police: “The easiest way to make a farce of democracy — the power of the people to call the shots — is to generate too much of it…

On the contrary, I would suggest that the easiest way to destroy democracy is to generate too little of it. 

Who are the aldermen courageous enough to bring forth a formidable ordinance that says Chicago no longer will accept business as usual — tepid police accountability? Those who have been most impacted by police brutality are those who wrote this ECPS ordinance (Empowering Communities for Public Safety). It will establish long-overdue civilian oversight of the police department.

SEND LETTERS TO: letters@suntimes.com. Please include your neighborhood or hometown and a phone number for verification purposes. Letters should be approximately 350 words or less.

Never forget that every large city in the United States is watching Chicago. Their elected officials hope we do nothing, so they won’t have to become accountable either. Is that what the people want?

Yvette Johnson, Libertyville

Funding for disabilities services

Last month, the Sun-Times took a hard look at the funding needs for services for Illinoisans with disabilities. I appreciate the thoughtful approach Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown took. As legislators in Springfield put together a budget this month, I want to ask that they adequately fund the services that people with disabilities depend on every day.

This is not a new problem. A decade ago, Illinois acknowledged that it was not adequately funding such services and pledged to do better. Yet Illinois still ranks 47th among all states in funding community services for people with disabilities.

The result is that thousands of people must wait for services they need today. And while they wait, they are missing out on opportunities to be part of the community and belong — to work at the local Portillo’s, for example, or to live in their own home or apartment with friends.

We need to do right by people with disabilities — and the people who support them. Underfunding has significantly impacted our ability to recruit and retain the incredibly valuable employees who provide care and support 24 hours a day.

Jim Kales, CEO, Aspire Chicago

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