Chicago Police Department Agrees To Reform Stop-And-Frisk Procedures In Settlement With ACLU

Human Rights Fighter

9 years ago

The Chicago Police Department announced Friday that it has reached a major settlement ;with the American Civil Liberties Union, under which it will submit to an independent evaluation of its controversial stop-and-frisk procedure.

The settlement ;comes several months after the ACLU ;claimed in a report ;that the department’s use of stop and frisk unjustly targets black residents and other racial minorities. ;

“We had monthslong, careful negotiations that were very productive and we’re very pleased with the outcome,” ;Karen Sheley, a senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Illinois who worked on the settlement, told The Huffington Post Friday. ;

;The five key terms of the agreement are: ;

The city and CPD will comply with the U.S. and Illinois Constitutions and the Illinois Civil Rights Act. Stops must comply with ;Fourth Amendment protections from unreasonable searches and seizures. To comply with the ICRA, the stop-and-frisk policy ;cannot “have a disparate impact on the basis of race.”

Independent review by a former federal judge. Former federal Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys will independently review the CPD’s stop-and-frisk policy until he determines ;it complies with both Constitutions and the ICRA.

Improved training and supervision of CPD officers. ;CPD will provide officer training aimed at ensuring that stops are lawful, and will perform more comprehensive and regular audits and reviews of stops. ;

Data collection regarding stops. In the past, CPD did not have a publicly available database of stops and ;officers did not keep records of frisks. ;

Increased transparency of data. ;CPD will turn over stop-and-frisk data to Keys, who will also review CPD’s training procedures. ;Sheley called Keys’ oversight “a key component” of the agreement.

CPD Superintendent Garry McCarthy had ;previously criticized the ACLU’s report, released in March, as “faulty.” ;But on Friday, the city’s top police officer was more conciliatory.

“This unprecedented agreement with the ACLU is a demonstration of CPD’s commitment to fairness, respect, transparency,” McCarthy said. ;

Over the past year, a series of violent — and sometimes deadly — encounters between police and black residents has prompted increased scrutiny of police tactics, such as stop and frisk, that are believed to discriminate against minorities.

The ACLU’s report found that ;Chicago’s stop-and-frisk rate was four times the highest rates ;of the New York City Police Department. ; ;

A ;federal judge ruled in 2013 that the NYPD’s use of stop and frisk violated the rights of thousands of city residents by systematically targeting black men and other minorities. ;

Combined with the federal ruling, mounting public pressure ;– and, later, scrutiny from Mayor Bill de Blasio once he arrived in office — the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk rates ;fell to historic lows, ;with ;little to no adverse impact on public safety. ;

“This settlement agreement is the most robust that’s been achieved on the issue of stop and frisk without a lawsuit or intervention by the Department of Justice,” Sheley said. “We think that’s important for getting to the remedy immediately.” ;

The Associated Press contributed to this report. ;

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Chicago Police Department Agrees To Reform Stop-And-Frisk Procedures In Settlement With ACLU