“So what are you gonna take from me? My car? But nine times out of 10, if I’ve been in the streets all my life, these cars [are] in my baby mama name, my cousin’s name, my mom’s name,” Green told The TRiiBE during the South Side town hall. “If you are a smart street dude, cash is king.”
Loren Jones, a 29-year-old resident of Chicago’s 4th Ward, echoed Greene’s sentiments.
“It can affect people that are related to people who are potentially getting convicted for crimes, and their assets and their livelihood, unfairly. And I think that at the end of the day, it’s not going to change a lot of what we’re trying to address with the crime rates,” Jones said.
Although the murder rate dropped 6% from last year, robbery rates increased 11%, burglary rates jumped 36% and theft rose 70% within a year, according to a report by the Chicago Police Department (CPD).
As a former Chicago police officer, Chambers says that although he respects the police and thinks they are doing a good job, they need to do a better job at building trust within the community.
“Glenn Brooks, the director of community policing, is doing a good job of trying to bridge the gap between community and police. But it’s not good enough, because the community still doesn’t trust the police,” he said.
Before the South Side town hall began, Sauganash resident Bobby Vanecko, 26, told The TRiiBE he was confused when he first heard about the ordinance. He thought civic asset forfeiture already existed.
“I had heard of asset forfeiture already, like in law school,” said Vanecko, a recent graduate of Loyola University’s School of Law. “So I was kind of surprised. I didn’t know what to make of it.”
As a law student, Vanecko has worked with clients who have had their cars seized because they allegedly were connected to a crime. According to the Illinois Drug Asset Forfeiture Procedure Act, “Personal property subject to forfeiture under the Illinois Controlled Substances Act, the Cannabis Control Act, the Illinois Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, or the Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act may be seized by the Director of the Illinois State Police or any peace officer upon process or seizure warrant issued by any court having jurisdiction over the property.”
The main difference between the Victims’ Justice Ordinance and the Drug Asset Forfeiture Act is that the proposed ordinance would allow for the civil suit of gang leaders, holding them liable to damages up to $10,000.