CCL Statement on Necessary Reforms to Promote Police Accountability
The Chicago Council of Lawyers (CCL) is calling for a necessary reforms to promote police accountability in Chicago. In a statement released this week, the CCL specifically criticized the terms of the city’s collective bargaining agreement with the police union, which permit an officer to “clarify and amend” his original report of an incident after reviewing video or audio that captured it.
The CCL declares that the policy “may discourage some officers from taking seriously their duty to tell the truth in the first instance.” They note that other public employees are not allowed to amend statements made in the course of their duties, and that witnesses in official investigations also lack such a right. Therefore, the CCL is urging the Mayor’s Office and the police union to remove the “clarify and amend” provision from their collective bargaining agreement.
In their statement, the CCL also pushed for identification and monitoring of police officers who are have been named in unusually high numbers of misconduct complaints. You can read the full statement here and a longer synopsis at the CCL website.