“‘Justice’ in the police accountability system in Chicago?” @ Chicago Justice Project

Posted on April 13, 2012

In a recent conversation with a colleague about the police accountability system in Chicago and all of its failings, we stumbled upon a question that I cannot get out of my head:  how to define “justice” within the police accountability system in Chicago? I believe that those who bring forward legitimate complaints to the accountability system here are seeking it, but I am not sure those who set up the system or run it can define the justice they are supposedly trying to deliver to these people, or even that their definition matches that of those who are bringing complaints forward.  It seems to me that any accountability system that is set up to hold agents of the criminal justice system to accountable would have a clear sense of how it will deliver justice to those that were in some way harmed by the agents of the system.

The very sad reality is that for a large portion of the complaints which come into the police accountability system in Chicago, there is little chance that any accountability system built on proving definitive guilt or innocence will ever deliver those that are harmed an ounce of justice.  Why?  Because the complaints I am talking about deal with officers that use foul language, are generally rude or disrespectful, and use language that demonstrates their intolerance for the individual’s sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, gender, etc……………………………”

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