[remote or in person] Traffic Stops Listening Session

Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability
Criminal Justice

Friday, Jan. 24, 2025
6:30 p.m. — 8:00 p.m. CST

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945 W 69th St Chicago, IL 60621 (Directions)

Salvation Army Red Shield Center

Remote Event Link

You have the option of documenting this meeting in person or remotely.

If you attend in person, an additional hour will be added to your total assignment pay.

If you will be documenting remotely, make sure to register for the Zoom webinar at this link ahead of time.

For more context on traffic stops, see this article from The TRiiBE.

Reporting

Edited and summarized by the Chicago - IL Documenters Team

Note-taking by Ariana Portalatin

This meeting is the second of a series of listening sessions the CCPSA is hosting to gather community input on traffic stops. Various public speakers voiced feeling disrespected and unfairly treated by the Chicago Police Department.

Live reporting by Chitra Iyer

This meeting is the second of a series of listening sessions the CCPSA is hosting to gather community input on traffic stops. Various public speakers voiced feeling disrespected and unfairly treated by the Chicago Police Department.

Chitra Iyer
Good evening Chicago! I'll be covering tonight's @CCPSA_Chicago Traffic Stops Listening Session for @CHIdocumenters #CHIdocumenters, 6:30pm at Englewood's Salvation Army Red Shield Center

05:34 PM Jan 24, 2025 CST

Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 2/27
Live stream is started at 6:41; Meeting will start in 5
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 3/27
Formed in July 2021 by a Chicago City Council ordinance creating a new model for community oversight and accountability of the CPD, beset by decades of scandals, misconduct and brutality. The CCPSA is tasked with restoring public trust in CPD
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 4/27
Commissioner Terry calls the meeting to order, outlining the history of the CCPSA and the intentions of the meeting. Commissioner Wortham suggests topics they'd like to hear about, such as feedback around the frequency of traffic stops
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 5/27
The main purpose of this meeting is public commentary around CPD traffic stops. Commissioner Wortham states CCPSA's intentions of incorporating public feedback into reforming the policies and practices used by CPD in traffic stops and public encounters
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 6/27
At 6:55 the public commentary period begins
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 7/27
Darrell Cook says that he was pulled over by the CPD last Thursday, and physically beaten till he was unconscious. He said he'd been in the hospital for five days, and unable to work, but is here to share his story. "Something needs to change," he says.
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 8/27
Troy Gaston, a longtime BLM organizer, is next. The last time he was here, he says, he talked about Dexter Reed. Today, he's here as a PhD student, researching this subject. But "the community is looking results. And the changes so far have been insufficient."
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 9/27
Gaston asks, "why must these traffic stops be conducted by a man with a gun?"
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 10/27
The next speaker also talks about how CPD officers aren't held accountable. "The officers know that they'll get away with a slap on the wrist," he says. "The CPD needs to start bringing actual actions, actually reprimand officers that violate their policies.
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 11/27
"There needs to be psychological evaluations to see if [officers] have PTSD. They may think they're still in Afghanistan, but they're not. They're in Englewood. You're not in an enemy zone and you shouldn't treat people as combatants. Ease up on the confrontation, the aggression"
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 12/27
Ali Longbottom is here as a member of the Free 2 Move Coalition and the Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts @ChiAppleseed @Free2movechi
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 13/27
"Our reports show that CPD isn't reporting about a third of the stops they're making. Investigatory stops that target Black and Latino young people disproportionately are on the rise, as CPD hunts for guns. Pretextual vehicle stops don't serve the people CPD claims to protect."
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 14/27
Roderick Sawyer (unrelated to the former alderman) lives in Hyde Park, where he says he is under the jurisdiction of the University of Chicago police.
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 15/27
"They are one of the largest private forces in the state, and the most aggressive in Chicago," he says, "because they're private, they aren't subject to the same forums or rules as the CPD-- there's no CCPSA for them, no Open Meetings Act, no FOIA"
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 16/27
"If a U of Chi Police officer decides to be a bad actor, there's no recourse," he says. "I ask that this body looks existing ordinances and MOUs to ensure that data from these officers is collected + reported, so that this data isn't outsourced and hidden by private institutions"
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 17/27
The next speaker has been stopped by CPD, and has had to deescalate situations, herself. She's never had a positive experience with CPD "They don't know how to act...how to speak to people. You have to speak with respect to receive respect.
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 18/27
"If I have to de-escalate CPD officers, I should be on their payroll."
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 19/27
"They're projecting their expectations of who they think they're dealing with. They come at us with all sorts of assumptions, trauma and triggers. A lot of them just aren't well. But that's not our problem. If you're not helping people, you're hurting us," she says.
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 20/27
The next commenter speaks about her experience in getting stopped Commissioner Wortham interjects, but the audio from the livestream is unclear. She isn't speaking into a microphone. There appears to be a heated discussion
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 21/27
Commissioner Wortham wants to specify that as part of the CCPSA, she does not have authority over consent decree compliance. More is said, but audio is choppy and unclear
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 22/27
The next speaker says that ignorance of the law is not an excuse for mistreating Chicagoans
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 23/27
The last speaker says she is very familiar with the consent decree. "I hope that what comes out of these conversation is to review these tactics and say that these are not acceptable."
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 24/27
"If the public here has said that these tactics make them feel invisible, disrespected and abused...I hope you actually take our feedback, and this meeting isn't just grandstanding," she says.
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 25/27
Then, she pauses, staring at Commissioners Terry and Wortham. She shakes her head, and walks away from the podium. "Your entire disposition is so unfortunate," she says. "I'm sorry I even attended"
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 26/27
With that, Commissioner Wortham calls the meeting to an end at 7:59pm, wishing attendees a safe ride home.
Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 27/27
This concludes my coverage on the CCPSA's Traffic Stops Listening Session. For more meeting coverage, check out chicago.documenters.org
chicago.documenters.org

Agency Information

Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability

www.chicago.gov

(312) 742-8888

See Documenters reporting

In July 2021, the Chicago City Council passed an ordinance creating a new model for police oversight, accountability, and public safety. The ordinance creates two types of bodies: a citywide Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, with power to advance systemic reform, and District Councils, which will be elected in each police district and work to improve policing and public safety in the district. The Commission and District Councils will bring police officers and Chicago residents together to plan, prioritize, and build mutual trust; strengthen the police accountability system; give Chicagoans a meaningful new role in oversight; and explore and advance alternative effective approaches to public safety.

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