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JULY  2015  1.0
COAL News


Reading assignment for the August Coalition Power Breakfast: "Five Things Obama Should Now Do About Baltimore", written by Professor David Harris and "City Fires Investigator Who Found Cops at Fault in Shootings", written by Chip Mitchell.

 

Please note that Mr. Lorenzo Davis, the fired investigator, will be joining Prof. David Harris, as our guest panelist.

 

Also see additional articles of note. 

 

Respectfully,
COAL Board of Directors

"
The time to work seriously and collectively, to improve the state of our Community, is upon us..."  

Let's Get to Work.

April 29, 2015

Five Things Obama Should Now Do About Baltimore

By Prof. David Harris, from Politico

 

 

It is clear, at long last, that we are seeing a pattern. Set against the backdrop of years of tense relations between police and those they serve, a black man dies during an encounter with the police. The authorities launch an investigation; outraged community members protest. The victim's family expresses its unimaginable grief and loss, and asks for justice and peace. Count 'em: Ferguson (Michael Brown); Staten Island (Eric Garner); Cleveland (Tamir Rice); Brooklyn (Akai Gurley), North Charleston (Walter Scott); Tulsa (Eric Harris), Baltimore (Freddie Gray). 

 

Sometimes, the protests become violent: We saw unrest, damage to property, and injuries in Ferguson eight months ago, and now we are seeing much of the same in Baltimore. While the pattern of black men dying in police custody unites all of these cases, we also see variation. These events have unfolded in different states and cities, and in different regions of the country. They have involved very different police departments: a couple of small town police agencies, a sheriff's department, and those in urban settings, including the New York Police Department. And we see unique circumstances each time: Michael Brown's struggle for a police officer's gun; Eric Garner saying "I can't breathe" as an officer uses a chokehold on him; Tamir Rice shot while holding a toy gun. Akai Gurley died from a police bullet discharged in a stairwell; Eric Harris seems to have lost his life when a reserve deputy shot his gun, thinking it was his Taser; Walter Scott was flat-out murdered, shot in the back as he ran away. And we don't know yet how Freddie Gray's spine was nearly severed while in police custody.


But this wide variation in settings and circumstances in which this same type of incident occurs tells us something important. Even though American policing is local, the problem is national. And so must be the effort to address these issues. Both President Obama and Congress must jump in immediately, acknowledge that the problem is a national one, and make a serious effort to rein in police misconduct even on the local level...
 

Read Full Article Here.

 

 

- Submitted By Prof. David Harris - 

Two States' Legislative Response
 
Please take a look at examples of what two states have put in place to cover investigations into the use of deadly force by law enforcement:

 

COAL Recognizes Lance Gough, Executive Director - Chicago Board of Elections

COAL (belatedly) commends Lance Gough on the leadership he continues to provide the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners (CBOEC) and the voting processes here in the City of Chicago. 

Mr. Gough has overseen the expansion of ways in which residents can register to vote, the technologies employed in 
the voting process, the timely reporting of voting results and the proactive support (staff and materials) the CBOEC provides to community organizations and others engaged in promoting participation in the process and protecting our access to the ballot. 

Additionally, the CBOEC and the Cook County Board of Elections work in partnership towards making the voting process easier and more accessible, thus demonstrating how governmental agencies can work synergistic-ally on behalf of the citizenry.

As the recent 2015 Municipal Elections demonstrated, once again, we have many challenges to overcome in achieving the goals of getting our community to the polls (for every election) and in flexing our political muscle with increasing effectiveness. Thankfully, Mr. Gough ensures that the voting processes under his control are not inhibitors to achieving these goals.

Again, COAL commends Mr. Lance Gough's ongoing leadership of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.

COALITION POWER BREAKFAST

hs
The next  
Coalition  
Power Breakfast
is  scheduled for
Saturday, August 1, 2015
  
Begins 8:30am / Program 9:30am
  
Guest Speaker:*
Prof. David Harris, Distinguished Faculty Scholar
University of Pittsburgh School of Law

Topic:
Community and Police Relations One Year After Ferguson: The First Steps Taken, and the Many That Remain

*Guest Panelist:
Mr. Lorenzo Davis, (fired) Investigator,
Independent Police Review Authority
                        
BJ's Market - 8734 S. Stony Island Ave, Chicago - 773.374.4700
- Submitted By Cecile Johnson -
July 20, 2015

City fires investigator who found cops at fault in shootings
By Chip Mitchwll, from WBEZ91.5

A Chicago investigator who determined that several civilian shootings by police officers were unjustified was fired after resisting orders to reverse those findings, according to internal records of his agency obtained by WBEZ.

Scott M. Ando, chief administrator of the city's Independent Police Review Authority, informed its staff in a July 9 email that the agency no longer employed supervising investigator Lorenzo Davis, 65, a former Chicago police commander. IPRA investigates police-brutality complaints and recommends any punishment.

Davis's termination came less than two weeks after top IPRA officials, evaluating Davis's job performance, accused him of "a clear bias against the police" and called him "the only supervisor at IPRA who resists making requested changes as directed by management in order to reflect the correct finding with respect to OIS," as officer-involved shootings are known in the agency.

Since its 2007 creation, IPRA has investigated nearly 400 civilian shootings by police and found one to be unjustified.

WBEZ asked to interview Ando, promoted last year by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to head the agency. The station also sent Ando's spokesman questions about sticking points between IPRA investigators and managers, about the agency's process for overturning investigative findings, and about the reasons the agency had reversed many of Davis's findings.

The spokesman said there would be no interview and sent this statement: "This is a personnel matter that would be inappropriate to address through the media, though the allegations are baseless and without merit. IPRA is committed to conducting fair, unbiased, objective, thorough and timely investigations of allegations of police misconduct and officer-involved shootings."...

- Submitted By Thomas Simmons -  
July 28, 2015

The Price People Pay for Not Voting
by Arlene Jones, from Austin Weekly News

Everything is politics and all politics is local! That's what went through my mind when a young man posted a video to Facebook this past Sunday, July 26. 

What was in that video? Apparently there was a murder around Avers and Ferdinand. The two men who had been killed were still in their car when the police used a repo-truck to tow it away. The family members were justly upset as they watched the scene.

Comments like, "This is bogus!" and "This is BS!" flowed through the air. I felt the anger and frustration of the people who saw the disrespect displayed toward their deceased family members. But as the huge crowd grew, I wondered how many of them who were expressing their anger that day went out and voted during the municipal elections held on Feb. 24 or the special municipal runoff election that was held on April 7?
    
Chicago implemented a redrawn ward map, which went into effect for the 2015 election. The 37th Ward boundaries have now changed. On the east side, it begins around Hamlin and Lake. It goes north on Hamlin to Ferdinand and then west to Avers. Our politicians made Avers the dividing line between the 37th and 27th wards. So the blocks on Avers going north from Ferdinand until it reaches just north of Division are discombobulated as one side of the street is represented by one alderman while the other is represented by a different one.

Trust me - the way the map was devised was not accidental. It is designed to maintain disunity as those struggling blocks have to deal with two aldermen to address their basic needs and problems. I took a look at the vote count for alderman that came out of that area. For the 37th Ward, it is the 13th Precinct. The vote count for the area from Lake Street to just north of Division and Avers west to Pulaski was 188. The 27th Ward is the 15th precinct. Alderman Walter Burnett didn't need a special election to retain his seat. He won during the February election with a whopping 135 people coming out to cast their vote...

What We Believe 

The Coalition of African American Leaders believes that it is important to examine the critical issues confronting the African American community where injustice, inequality and the absence of access and opportunity continue to prevail, thereby negatively impacting us as a people. COAL is an assemblage that advocates and organizes for appropriate and responsible public policy change, system behavior change and equality of opportunity. We aim to achieve for all of our people the fullness of the life experience without any form of racism or exclusion as a deterrent. We believe we must prepare ourselves for the opportunity of this full participation, thereby achieving the necessary education and training to participate. 

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