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On March 29, 2021, a Chicago Police Department (CPD) officer shot and killed thirteen-year-old Adam Toledo after chasing him on foot in Little Village. The footage reflects a tragedy—a tragedy that did not have to happen, for the thirteen-year-old, for his family and friends, for the police officer involved, and for all the members of our larger community. There should not have to be concern that the boy was running away from the police with a weapon; the officer should have not been so trained or so panicked that he fired a shot without leaving time to determine whether the thirteen-year-old was a threat when he stopped and raised his hands, following the officer’s demands. 

The violent and racist actions of the Chicago Police Department are well-documented, historically showing a general lack of restraint, disregard for public safety, and intolerance for dissent. As Chicago’s public interest bar association, it is our duty to speak out strongly against all forms of structural violence in our city. For decades, the Chicago Council of Lawyers has encouraged ethical reform of Chicago institutions, especially related to our police department. We renew those calls today.

Some factions of the Chicago Police Department and police unions have openly and consistently resisted needed reforms. Although the Federal Consent Decree, supervising the process of reform by the Chicago Police Department (CPD), was entered in January 2019, CPD failed to meet more than 70% of the requirements in the first year. Likewise, the Consent Decree in no way removes the biases and long-standing barriers to justice that are deeply rooted in CPD contracts. The Independent Monitor’s most recent report showed that the department is not even in preliminary compliance with over half of the Consent Decree requirements. This is unacceptable.

In February 2020, CPD rejected every recommendation but five made by a Community Use of Force Working Group that was convened by the Mayor and Superintendent to “provide feedback, revisions and formal recommendations to the Police Department to adopt under a new use of force policy.”

Requesting that the CPD reform itself has been a failure time and again, while communities across the city and country continue to suffer while calling for more accountable, transparent, and less violent policing. The Chicago Council of Lawyers joins these communities and urges the Mayor and members of City Council to take action.

The death of Adam Toledo again confirms that creation of another Task Force or Working Group is not enough. These may provide political cover but do nothing to start to solve the problem. An important and long-needed policy change that the Mayor can implement immediately is ending Chicago Police Department foot pursuits. Foot chases are almost never necessary and are extremely high-risk for all involved parties. In 2018, the Council recommended an immediate reevaluation of its policy on foot chases in Chicago. Commenting on a proposed 180-day study on foot chases in the then-draft Consent Decree, the we stated: 

We believe that there is little need for further study and no reason to delay immediate adoption of a foot chase policy along the lines that many other jurisdictions have adopted. As those policies elsewhere recognize, foot chases pose significant risks to both officers and suspects involved in them. Such chases are generally not justified in the absence of a significant and immediate risk to the public or officers involved. Such chases have also resulted all too frequently in the use of excessive (and sometimes deadly) force by pursuing officers. We know enough to mandate adoption of a policy now.

Comments of the Chicago Council of Lawyers’ Civil Liberties & Police Accountability Committee on proposed Consent Decree of the Chicago Police Department (October 12, 2018).

We are hopeful that Mayor Lightfoot will move quickly to address CPD’s foot chase policies; as she stated on April 5: “Tragedies like [the killing of Adam Toldeo] underscore the urgency of reforming CPD’s foot pursuit policy, not tomorrow, but today.”

Similarly, we urge the Chicago City Council to pass the “Empowering Communities for Public Safety” (ECPS) ordinance for civilian oversight of the police immediately. The ECPS ordinance has the support of a broad-ranging, diverse coalition of community groups. Several different proposals for civilian oversight have existed since 2016 without being voted on; the Mayor and the Public Safety Committee need to come to grips and take action to create an appropriate civilian oversight agency without further delay.

While these two recommendations are in no way exhaustive and may seem minor, they – along with all the other requirements for improvement in training and supervising police officers – have the potential to significantly reduce some of the harms felt by Chicago’s Black, Brown, and poor communities at the hands of CPD. The residents of the City and the members of its police department deserve nothing less. The community deserves it now.

We cannot accept any more excuses for the Chicago Police Department’s refusal to change or the City’s refusal to hold them accountable.