On July 21, the Chicago City Council passed the Empowering Communities for Public Safety (ECPS) ordinance with a 36-13 vote to create an elected civilian oversight board of Chicago residents to oversee the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA). Mayor Lori Lightfoot also backed the ordinance, which will go into effect in 2023.
The ECPS coalition behind the ordinance is made up of more than 100 organizations that were directly involved in the decades-long campaign for civilian oversight of CPD. The campaign gained momentum after the release of the video of former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke fatally shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in 2014, but received even more visibility as calls for police accountability and reform picked up more steam during the 2020 summer uprisings.
So, what is ECPS? And what does it mean for Chicagoans?
The ordinance creates a seven-member commission that will respond to the public safety needs and concerns of the community, engage in community outreach, make recommendations on police policy and more.
Most important of the commission’s powers is the ability to pass a resolution of no confidence in the superintendent, any member of the police board and COPA chief administrator with a two-thirds vote, according to WTTW. The commission can recommend candidates for police superintendent and the police board, but the mayor still retains the power to hire and fire the police superintendent. However, the commission does have the power to hire and fire the COPA head. The seven-member commission will be appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the City Council.
The ordinance also creates three-member district councils for each of the city’s 22 police districts. Members of the councils will be elected by residents who reside in the district during the 2023 municipal elections. District council members will work directly with the police district and report their findings to the commission.
After the historic vote, The TRiiBE spoke to Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) national director Frank Chapman, Chicago Democratic Socialists of America (CDSA) co-chair Diego Morales and #LetUsBreathe Collective co-director Damon Williams about the ECPS ordinance and what it means for a city like Chicago with a long history of police misconduct and abuse.
“I don’t think this should be promoted as something that will make our community safer or end police violence, but what it could do is activate a lot of people to engage in political processes that could lead to that type of work,” Williams said.
Chapman and Morales are members of the coalition that developed the ordinance. Here is what all three organizers had to say.
(These interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity).