The University of Chicago Police Department functions as the primary law enforcement body for 65,000 people living on the South Side, the majority of whom are not University-affiliated. They have the largest jurisdiction -- both by area and by population -- of any private police force in the country, covering over 6.5 square miles. Despite the fact that the UCPD exercises full police powers in areas far beyond University property, they are not transparent with or held accountable to the people they serve. This has drastic consequences: we know from the experiences of students and other community members that the UCPD engages in racial profiling. The Coalition for Equitable Policing (a campaign of the Southside Solidarity Network) believes that given its public function, the UCPD needs to be at least as accountable as are public police forces. To this end, we ask that the UCPD:
(1) establish a process for release of information -- including but not limited to a process for obtaining records of police complaints and contact cards (records of stops made) -- identical to that set out in the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA);*
(2) release its current policing policies and any subsequent changes to these policies, as they may occur; and
(3) amend its current complaint process so that it is more accessible to those who wish to file official complaints about police practices, specifically by allowing complainants to file official complaints online, by mail, by phone, or in person without appointment, and by removing the requirement that a sworn affidavit be taken before a complaint be registered.**
These are all standards to which public police forces must adhere. We have already made these demands of the UCPD, and they have said no. We now stand with students, staff, faculty, and other community members in declaring that this is unacceptable, and that we will continue to push for these demands until they are met.
We will deliver this petition to the UCPD headquarters on March 7, 2014 at 3PM, and expect a “yes” or “no” response to each by March 12, 2014.
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* The Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lays out guidelines for information release and processes by which citizens can request information from public agencies. The UCPD, despite its full public function, claims that it does not have to heed these requests because it is a part of the private entity, the University of Chicago. This information is vital to attorneys in representing their clients and in discerning how different demographics are being policed.
** Specifically, with the CPD, one may file an official complaint online, by mail, by phone, or in person (
http://safety-security.uchicago.edu/police/commendations.shtml), and is not required to initially submit a sworn affadavit; to file an official complaint with the UCPD, one must call to make an appointment to go to the UCPD headquarters, on the University’s campus, and take a sworn affidavit. These cumbersome steps pose substantial barriers to filing complaints with the UCPD. Unofficial complaints made online do not necessarily receive responses, do not necessarily result in investigation, and cannot end in formal reprimand.
