By Steve Rhodes
You can find real-time commentary on Wednesday’s clowning in both Chicago City Council chambers and the U.S. House of Representatives at @BeachwoodReport.
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“Protesters on Wednesday repeatedly shouted down members of the Justice Department team investigating civil rights violations by the Chicago Police Department during a raucous public hearing on the South Side,” the Sun-Times reports.
“During a 90-minute meeting at Kennedy King College, Justice Department attorneys were at pains to explain the scope and potential impact of the probe of the Chicago Police that began six months ago, over jeers from about half the members of an audience of about 100 people. The meeting was the second of four planned by federal investigators as they prepare a report on the Chicago Police Department, a likely prelude to a court order that will mandate federal oversight of the city’s police.”
Not to diminish the (justified) anger of those in the crowd, but I found the parameters of the investigation that were laid out the most interesting part of this report:
Christy Lopez, deputy chief of special litigation in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said the team was the largest ever assembled since 1994, when federal legislation gave the federal department authority to investigate civil rights violations by police agencies, and Chicago is the largest department ever subject to a probe . . .
So far, Coe said in her abbreviated catalog, investigators have contacted more than 400 residents who have made complaints or statements online or to a phone hotline, talked to members of 80 community organizations, visited all 22 police districts, and met with 150 police officers and 34 IPRA investigators.
Lopez said the investigation, into both the Chicago Police Department and the Independent Police Review Authority, would take another six months at least. Once the report findings are finalized in a report, the federal government could negotiate an agreement mandating sweeping reforms of the department, as it has in cities from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles.
The DOJ folks have scheduled two more public meetings for July.
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Tweeting Derrick Rose
Mostly variations on a theme.
Growing Up Chicago
A slice of the life from Lil Bibby.
Best Brexit Ever
The only nine minutes you need.
Chicago’s Guru Of Indian Food
And chess freak.
Badass Asian Stuff
At a new Art Institute exhibit.
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BeachBook
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Who You – And We – Really Are.
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TweetWood
A sampling.
Ticketmaster settlement shows now include U.S. House on C-SPAN.
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) June 23, 2016
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FLASHBACK (back when Dems had majority control of Congress): “shut the fuck up on guns.” https://t.co/p8BulHvfM4 pic.twitter.com/y34U9oynyV
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) June 23, 2016
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The Beachwood Tronc Line: From pixels to potty.
Posted on June 23, 2016