Task Force: Chicago Police Must Change Racist Ways

Ordered in the wake of the Laquan McDonald shooting, the Police Accountability Task Force has finished their investigation of the Chicago Police Department. The report, soon to be released, characterizes the police force as a haven for racism. According to excerpts published by the Chicago Tribune, the department can reform its ways with “will and commitment.”

“But where reform must begin is with an acknowledgment of the sad history and present conditions which have left the people totally alienated from the police, and afraid for their physical and emotional safety,” says the report. “And while many individuals and entities have a role to play, the change must start with CPD. CPD cannot begin to build trust, repair what is broken and tattered unless–from the top leadership on down–it faces these hard truths, acknowledges what it has done at the individual and institutional levels and earnestly reaches out with respect.”

Look, this task force undoubtedly knows more about the inner workings of the Chicago Police Department than we do, and it’s not hard to imagine that the investigation turned up some legitimate areas of concern. Any police department – hell, any organization of any kind – has room for improvement. In a city that has been under Democrat control for years, that’s going to be doubly-true.

Still, why is it that these reports never come out and say, Yeah, you could change some things…but damn, look at what you’re dealing with.

Because that seems to be forgotten in our recent war on police. No, there’s no excusing blatant police brutality, and we should expect our officers to uphold the highest standards of community interaction. But instead, we’re holding cops responsible for statistics! Disparate impact! Because more blacks are arrested, it means the police are racist. This is the kind of foolishness we’re starting to see, and it’s not limited to Chicago by any means.

“The community’s lack of trust in CPD is justified,” the report states. “There is substantial evidence that people of color–particularly African-Americans–have had disproportionately negative experiences with the police over an extended period of time.”

Is that right. And what if we took a survey of every officer who has worked in the CPD  over that “extended period of time.”? If they said they had disproportionately negative experiences with people of color, would that mean anything? Or would that just be more proof of systemic racism?

When you go into these things already having written your conclusion, you usually wind up finding what you were looking for.