Mitchell: Task force calls out police department on racism

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The eagerly awaited “Recommendations for Reforms” report by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Police Accountability Task Force was unveiled Wednesday in the midst of another fatal police shooting of a young black male.

Although Pierre Loury’s name never came up during the news conference, his death at the hands of police raises many of the concerns African-American residents expressed during public forums that helped task force members craft the report.

Loury was portrayed by police as a “documented” gang member who had “prior contact” with police and a gun, and he was described by his family and friends as an “average teen.”

Loury, 16, was fatally shot by an unidentified officer after a foot chase on Monday.

As task force members were preparing to hand the mayor an ambitious list of recommendations aimed at reforming police officers’ interactions with communities like the one where Loury was killed, marchers were holding an angry vigil in the West Side’s Homan Square neighborhood.

Over the next few weeks, the distrust on both sides will be palpable.

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“The issues of race and policing, which go hand in hand, are something that has to be talked about front and center. Many said that they believe the police that they encountered are fundamentally racist,” said Lori Lightfoot, chair of the task force and head of the Chicago Police Board.

Over the past eight years, 74 percent of people killed or injured by Chicago Police officers were African-American, and 72 percent of people stopped by Chicago Police in 2014 were African-American and 17 percent were Hispanic.

While Lightfoot pointed out that the Chicago Police Department should not be painted with a “broad brush,” she acknowledged the pain, anger and frustration that people across this city have articulated.

“[They] articulated [it] . . . on social media and protests in the streets, and it is something that has to be understood, has to be respected and has to be embraced if we are ever to move forward in a positive direction,” she said.

The task force’s recognition that “racism” is a tangible part of the problem and not a misperception on the part of blacks is groundbreaking.

“The consistent theme of these deeply held beliefs came from a significant cross-section of people: men and women, young, middle-aged and older, doctors, lawyers, teachers and other professionals, students, and everyday workers. . . . [P]eople of color loudly expressed their outrage about how they are treated by the police,” according to the report’s executive summary.

The Rev. Ira Acree, a West Side activist and consistent critic of the Chicago Police Department, called the report a “breath of fresh air.”

“This is so refreshing to see this committee be true to the calling that they were charged with. I just hope the mayor and City Council seize this opportunity to implement real police reform,” Acree said.

Richard Wooten, a retired Chicago Police officer who served on the task force committee, said the injustice that goes on within the police department doesn’t just affect African-Americans on the street.

“There’s an imbalance on how discipline is issued and assignments are given. The department has to make a total change from the inside out,” Wooten said.

In yet another irony, the pressure will be on Police Supt. Eddie Johnson — a man who has spent 27 years in a department that the task force concluded is broken — to make these sweeping changes.

He’ll need more than our trust.

He’ll need our prayers.

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