Chicago approves creation of new civilian police oversight group

Chicago’s City Council voted 36-13 in favor of creating a new civilian police oversight panel that would provide more power to Chicago residents.

The move comes in response to renewed calls for police oversight and a Department of Justice review over the killing of Laquan McDonald.

The ordinance establishes a seven-person commission that will be able to draft policy for the Chicago Police Department and recommend candidates for the police superintendent position, police board members, and the head of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, according to NBC Chicago.

The commission could vote to remove either the chief administrator of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability or the police superintendent. In the situation of the chief administrator, about two-thirds of the aldermen still have to approve the chief administrator’s removal. In the situation of the police superintendent, the mayor can reject or accept the commission’s recommendation, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Additionally, three-member councils will be set up in each of the city’s 22 police districts.

The commission will go into effect on Jan. 1, according to USA Today, The three-member councils will be elected beginning in February 2023.

In a statement on Wednesday, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she was “beyond thrilled to give our residents further opportunities to hold those who are sworn to protect and serve them accountable,” according to USA Today.

Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara had already expressed opposition to the seven-member board and district councils, calling it “useless redundancy” and saying that it could discourage officers from staying in the field because they feel less supported by their city, the Chicago Sun-Times noted.

“Another layer of oversight is just ridiculous. It’s only going to make coppers more pissed off because more oversight means, ’You’re doing something wrong. You need to be watched because you’re not doing something right,’” he said, according to the Sun-Times.