CITY HALL — Pledging to make her agency a catalyst for change, Sharon Fairley won the support of a City Council committee Tuesday as she was approved to lead the embattled Independent Police Review Authority.
Appointed to head the police review agency by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in December in the midst of the Laquan McDonald case, Fairley faced an immediate four-hour grilling before the City Council. Yet Ald. Ariel Reboyras (30th), chairman of the Public Safety Committee weighing her appointment, said she appeared much more capable and prepared Tuesday in clearing her confirmation hearing.
Most pointedly, Ald. Willie Cochran (20th), a former Chicago Police officer, asked Fairley about the former IPRA investigator Lorenzo Davis, fired in July after he claimed he refused to change findings in reports to the satisfaction of former IPRA head Scott Ando, including another police shooting involving a video, the 2013 death of 17-year-old Cedric Chatman.
Cochran said he was "rather disturbed" by those charges, and Fairley quickly agreed.
"That will not happen under our leadership," Fairley said. "Someone will not be directed to change what the facts are."
Saying she found the statute that created the agency "elegant," Fairley added, "We need to put the meat on the bones now," especially in working to "force a dialogue" with the Police Department to contribute to making necessary policy changes.
"We absolutely must rebuild public trust in IPRA," Fairley said, adding that the key to that was "transparency" and that she expected the agency to be "a catalyst for positive change with the Police Department."
"I just think we need to go out and do it," Fairley said, adding that the agency "got away from" its core mission in the past.
"You have a difficult task ahead of you," said Ald. Christopher Taliaferro (29th), "restoring public trust."
"We need to hear from the community what they want changed," Fairley said, insisting, "The whole purpose of our organization is to give voice to our complainants."
Fairley said she had been "surprised" by the willingness of interim Police Supt. John Escalante to institute de-escalation training, adding, "I think we have the cooperation that we need."
Fairley did caution that she would not advise the immediate release of any and all police dashcam videos, even in police shootings, but that she would "balance" the public's right to know with the need to maintain the "integrity of the investigation."
Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) pointed out that he'd openly challenged Fairley at the December council hearing and that he had legislation prepared stating IPRA "should be dissolved" and all police investigations turned over to Inspector General Joe Ferguson. Yet Lopez cheered the immediate changes Fairley had made, adding he would "give you the benefit of the doubt, at least until budget time" in the fall when Fairley will again appear before the council to make a case for her agency's budget being retained and possibly increased.
Fairley's appointment passed without opposition and heads to the full City Council for final confirmation on Wednesday.
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