FRAN SPIELMAN
The Chicago Sun Times
CHICAGO, Ill. — Mayor Daley dug in his heals Tuesday amid demands that he strengthen his proposal to sever the Office of Professional Standards from the Chicago Police Department and speed investigations of police wrongdoing.
Advocates for victims of police torture are urging the City Council to reject the mayor’s “cosmetic” plan and hold out for an “independent civilian review agency” headed by a civilian -- not a police officer -- chosen with community input.
“The problem in Chicago is that there is, in the Police Department, a code of silence. Police protect other police. In order to break that code of silence, you need to have someone who hasn’t been part of that culture,” said Locke Bowman, legal director of the MacArthur Justice Center at Northwestern University’s School of Law.
To transform OPS from an agency that does “meaningless investigations,” Bowman further demanded: a director with a five-year term that can only be cut short for cause with City Council approval; a new headquarters, preferably in the Loop; a budget large enough to aggressively investigate allegations of police misconduct; and a requirement that its annual report include “a clear accounting of cases handled with ample details on each case.” All records of disciplinary cases should be retained until a police officer retires, he said.
‘IT’S AN INSULT’
“The person who’s going to run this agency is, no doubt, going to make unpopular decisions and do things that displease the mayor. That’s part and parcel of doing an effective job,” Bowman said.
Daley called the demand to exclude police officers from the nationwide search an “affront to every man and woman” who wears a uniform.
“That’s saying anybody in law enforcement -- even a judge -- should not be even considered. Think of that. Your relatives, your friends, all police officers are never to be trusted. Only lawyers are. It’s an insult to the men and women, not only of the Chicago Police Department, but all law enforcement,” he said.
And Daley said he’s not about to give the new OPS chief a fixed term to insulate that person from political pressure.
“Free from politics or pressure? This idea of fixed terms and all that -- if they’re doing a bad job, what do you do then?” he said.
“I take the brunt of the criticism. I take the brunt of anything that happens in . . . Chicago. That’s my role. I should be held accountable. [But] if I put someone in [and say], ‘You’re going to be here for 10 years,’ you can’t do anything about it if they’re not performing.”