CBA Record February-March 2019

CBA AND UNION LEAGUE CLUB TEAM UP FOR TIMELY DISCUSSION What You Need to Know about the new Chicago Police Consent Decree

To sign up for this informative CLE Program, go to www.chicagobar. org/cle “This is a sweeping and historic measure that will mandate reforms in police poli- cies, training, and accountability. It truly is something that all of us as lawyers and citizens living and working in Chicago need to understand,” said Kreisman. By Sally Daly CBA Public Affairs Director W ith the City of Chicago set to begin the extraordinary pro- cess of implementing police reform, the Chicago Bar Association is offering a unique CLE program that will explore the dynamics of the new Chicago Police Consent Decree and offer analysis from individuals working on the inside of the implementation process. Presented jointly by the Public Affairs committees of the CBA and the Union League Club of Chicago, “Policing in Chicago under the Consent Decree” will be held April 24 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Union League, 65 W. Jackson Boulevard. The consent decree, which governs sweeping changes in the Chicago Police Department, went into effect March 1, 2019 when U.S. District Judge Robert Dow appointed an independent monitor and ‘special master’ to oversee implementa- tion of and compliance with the decree. Robert Kreisman, who chairs the CBA’s Public Affairs Committee, said the program will provide an insightful look into the process under which the decree was enacted and details as to how the reform actions will be rolled out.

www.chicagotribune.com/stantis

“The public affairs committees of the CBA and the Union League Club are very proud to be offering this timely and informative program for our members and interested citizens.” The consent decree was negotiated after the Illinois Attorney General’s Office sued the City of Chicago in federal court in 2017 alleging that the city’s police depart- ment had a “troubling record” of civil rights violations and needed an outside monitor to oversee reform measures that had been recommended by a civil rights investigation of the department by the U.S. Department of Justice. Key policing areas covered by the decree include Use of Force, Community Policing and Impartial Policing, Accountability and Transparency, Recruitment, Hiring and Promotion, Training and Supervision, Officer Wellness and Crisis Intervention. In the 16-page order issued Jan. 31, Judge Dow wrote that while it is “not a panacea, nor is it a magic wand,” the consent decree is “an important first step toward needed reforms of the Chicago Police Department and its policies.”

The parties negotiated the deal, according to Dow, with the goal of solving problems “in a manner that defuses tension, respects differences of opinion, and over time produces a ‘lawful, fair, reasonable and adequate’ result for everyone involved.” “Let us begin,” Judge Dow concluded in his order. On March 1, Judge Dow named Schiff Hardin LLP Partner Maggie Hickey as the independent monitor and retired federal Judge David H. Coar as a special master in the case. The CLE program will feature a panel discussion with representatives from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, the city of Chicago, the American Civil Liberties Union and a national expert on the imple- mentation of consent decrees in jurisdic- tions across the country.

16 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2019