“Woefully inadequate” — that’s how the former Justice Department official who oversaw the investigation of the Chicago Police Department described Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to seek a memorandum of understanding…

Invisible Institute in View From The Ground

May 26, 2017

New FOP President: Racism Not an Issue

BY CURTIS BLACK

Racism is not an issue in the Chicago Police Department, according to newly-elected FOP president Kevin Graham, and he doesn’t “know of any code of silence.”

In a wide-ranging podcast interview with The Daily Line…

Invisible Institute in View From The Ground

Apr 21, 2017

Report Card on Reform: Incomplete

BY CURTIS BLACK

Early intervention, community policing, diversity, training, supervision, and changes to union contracts are areas where reform recommendations have not been implemented, Police Board president Lori Lightfoot told the Chicago…

Invisible Institute in View From The Ground

Apr 12, 2017

20 Years of Police Reform

BY CURTIS BLACK

With the Trump administration backing away from federal civil rights inquiries into local police departments, it may be an appropriate moment for a review of 20 years of “patterns and practices” investigations by the U.S. Department of…

Invisible Institute in View From The Ground

Mar 30, 2017

At Issue: Oversight is “complicated, messy”

BY CURTIS BLACK

Sharon Fairley has been studying the history of civilian review of police across the country, going back to the first example, in Washington D.C. in 1948. Details vary widely across localities. “It doesn’t matter…

Curtis Black in View From The Ground

Nov 30, 2016

At Issue: Bond Reform in Chicago Has the County, Advocates in Agreement

With efforts to speed trials and reduce the jail population falling short — and a lawsuit charging that unaffordable bond levels in Cook County are unconstitutional — Sheriff Tom Dart has called for…

Curtis Black in View From The Ground

Aug 23, 2016

At Issue: Stepping up discipline — and evading it

The city’s inspector general delivered a report on a continuing investigation into the coverup following the shooting of Laquan McDonald, and fallout continued through the week. The report has not been made public.

Curtis Black in View From The Ground

Aug 23, 2016

At Issue: Constitutional policing

The Justice Department’s investigation of the Baltimore Police Department offers a preview of many of the issues at play in the agency’s current Chicago investigation.

Curtis Black in View From The Ground

Aug 23, 2016

At Issue: Police suspended in South Side shooting

Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson stripped three officers of their police powers after reviewing bodycam video of an incident last week in which 18-year-old Paul O’Neal was shot to death during a traffic stop in South Shore.