[in person] 5th Police District Council - Calumet

Chicago Police District Councils

Criminal Justice

Saturday, June 3, 2023
10:00 a.m. — 12:00 p.m. CDT

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11001 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, Illinois 60628 Chicago, IL 60628 (Directions)

Burst Into Books

This is an in person assignment and will include an additional hour of pay.

Pre-research resources

CPD 5th District - Calumet
District Council 005 members
Block Club Chicago: Calumet (5th) Police District Council Candidates

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Reporting

Edited and summarized by the Chicago - IL Documenters Team

Live reporting by Ebony Ellis

Pullman and Roseland area police district council meets for the first time

Ebony Ellis @Eb_Writes26

Hello! I will be covering this morning’s meeting for the 5th Police District Council hosted by the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability.

The meeting is taking place at Burst Into Books at 11001 S. Michigan Ave. at 10am.
@CHIdocumenters
#CHIDocumenters

10:14 AM Jun 3, 2023 CDT

Ebony Ellis @Eb_Writes26 2/24

The 5th police district includes Roseland, Pullman, and West Pullman.

Here is the agenda: chicago.gov/content/dam/ci…

Ebony Ellis @Eb_Writes26 3/24

The meeting began at 10:11am. There is guest speaker Frank Chapman. He is providing his background and the importance of the police district council.

Ebony Ellis @Eb_Writes26 4/24

An audience member asked why members of the police district council are referred to as “vendors.”

Chapman responds that because members are not city employees, “vendors” is the title that they are given.

Ebony Ellis @Eb_Writes26 5/24

“I want to try to empower our community. I want our community [children] to be just as safe, utilize their parks and libraries and just be able to be kids.”

-Ponchita Moore, introducing herself.

Ebony Ellis @Eb_Writes26 6/24

Robert McKay introduces himself as well.

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Moore will be the community outreach committee, Thomas McMahone, will be on the nominating committee, and McKay, will be the chairman of the committee.

Ebony Ellis @Eb_Writes26 8/24

An officer who is the captain of the 5th police district, suggest pulling more resources from the CAPS meeting.

Moore responds that the community deserves a space where they can speak out without the presence of police.

Ebony Ellis @Eb_Writes26 9/24

An audience member echos that community members want a safe community. And briefly mentions her experience in contacting police and no one responded. As she was talking, her eyes were watering.

Ebony Ellis @Eb_Writes26 10/24

It is now time for public comment.

Ebony Ellis @Eb_Writes26 11/24

“The response time in some areas is nonexistent.”

An audience member who is a resident of Pullman. She suggests phone calls being recorded to further remedy the lack of response from police.

Ebony Ellis @Eb_Writes26 12/24

Another audience member suggests methods of getting children off the street such as detention centers, community centers, etc.

Other audience members did not react well to those statements.

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Another audience member suggests a creation of meetings values to create and enforce more order within future meetings.

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Audience member Weyland Johnson says to the cops who are present, “these are good cops.”

He echos that trust must be repaired between police and the community.

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McKay, “Roseland is highly disenfranchised.”

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Moore addresses how challenging it is to start up/organize a block club.

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One of the officers asks what falls under the police council jurisdiction.

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Due to misunderstanding in viewpoints concerning the organization block clubs, the officer that was just speaking, decided to leave the meeting.

Other members of the audience also decided to leave.

Ebony Ellis @Eb_Writes26 19/24

McKay says that there will be copies of the ordinance at the next meeting due to discovering that a lot of the people in the audience are not aware of the purpose of today’s meeting or the origin of the police district council.

Ebony Ellis @Eb_Writes26 20/24

Moore says, “please be patient with us. This is our first meeting ever.”

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McKay mentions that there will be communication with the alderman and the city council.

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Another one of the officers present offers to blast notifications of future police district council meetings at the CAPS meetings, to get in touch with more of the neighborhood organizations.

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Moore echos the purpose of the police district council meetings is to hold police accountable.

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The meeting has adjourned at 11:55am.

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Agency Information

Chicago Police District Councils

See meeting notes for details

www.chicago.gov

See Documenters reporting

Each of the 22 District Councils is made up of three people elected by residents of the police district in regular municipal elections every four years, though anyone can participate in District Council work, and the more people who participate, the more effective the District Councils can be. The first District Council elections occurred in February 2023. Just as Chicagoans vote for a mayor and a local ward Alderperson, they also vote for up to three people to serve on the District Council.

The District Councils have several key roles:

Building stronger connections between the police and the community at the district level, where the community is a true partner in making the neighborhood safer. They can work with the police to address problems and set priorities.
Collaborating in the development and implementation of community policing initiatives.
Holding monthly public meetings, where residents can work on local initiatives rooted in community concerns and priorities. They can also raise and work to address concerns about policing in the district, and increase accountability.
Working with the community to get input on police department policies and practices. Working to develop and expand restorative justice and similar programs in the police district.
Ensuring that the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability gets input from the community, so that the Commission’s work will be based on what people in neighborhoods across the city are concerned about.
Nominating members of the Community Commission. Anyone who serves on the Community Commission must first have the support of elected District Council members.

(Source: Municipal Code of Chicago, 2-80-070(a) and (e))

For a map of police districts, visit https://www.chicagocityscape.com/maps/index.php#/?places_type=chipolicedistrict.