NEAR WEST SIDE — Residents calling for changes to Chicago Police Department policies will have the opportunity to voice their concerns at a meeting Tuesday night.
The Police Accountability Task Force's first "listening tour" meeting, hosted by Mt. Vernon Baptist Church, will take place at the JLM Life Center, 2622 W. Jackson Blvd., on the Near West Side Tuesday night. Registration begins at 5:30 p.m., a task force overview begins at 6 p.m. and public comment at 7 p.m.
Residents will have the opportunity to speak for up to two minutes per person or submit written comments on improving the accountability, oversight and training of Chicago Police officers. Citizens can also submit comments to the Chicago Police Accountability Task Force online.
Signs will not be allowed in the forums, according to news release. Parking is available on site.
The task force convened last year by Mayor Rahm Emanuel will hold three additional public meetings in South Shore, Pilsen and Rogers Park.
The five-member Task Force is charged with drawing up a list of recommendations for reforms within the police department to be submitted to Emanuel and City Council by March 31.
Task Force members are Sergio Acosta, former federal prosecutor; Joe Ferguson, former federal prosecutor and Chicago's inspector general; Hiram Grau, former director of the Illinois State Police and former deputy superintendent of the Chicago Police Department; Lori Lightfoot, president of the Chicago Police Board and a former federal prosecutor; and Randolph Stone, director of the University of Chicago's Criminal and Juvenile Justice Project Clinic and a former public defender.
“The job of the Task Force is to lay the foundation that will restore trust between the police and the communities they serve by facing hard truths and creating a roadmap for real and lasting transparency, respectful engagement, accountability and constructive change," Lightfoot said earlier this month. "To do that effectively, we need to hear from Chicago’s community residents.”
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