Police Accountability
Building a world where everyone feels safe where they live.
What We Believe
We believe that everyone deserves to be safe wherever they live. We believe in divesting from the police and investing those resources in our communities. We believe in alternatives to policing as we move to a more equitable system. As we build those alternatives, we must make sure that our police department acts with accountability and transparency. Everyone in Chicago must have a mechanism to hold the police accountable.
What We Will Do:
- Support the implementation of the Empowering Communities for Public Safety Ordinance by working with the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability and District Councils to bring about public safety for all and police accountability at the local and citywide levels.
- Monitor the court-ordered reforms of the Consent Decree to make sure CPD includes community voices in shaping future public safety policies and follows through with reforms that protect young people, people of color, people with disabilities, and people living with mental illness.
- Support the ONE Northside violence prevention team in Rogers Park and Uptown
- Identify and mobilize around opportunities and campaigns to increase safety, well-being, and police accountability in our communities.
What We Have Done
- Won the historic passage of the Empowering Communities for Public Safety Ordinance (ECPS) in 2021. After years of fighting for civilian oversight and increased police accountability, ECPS represents a major victory for community organizing and for the power of everyday Chicagoans to have a voice in their public safety.
ONE Northside started working for civilian oversight of police along with the Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability (GAPA) coalition in 2016. In 2021, GAPA and another community organization, CAARPR, joined forces to merge their different civilian-oversight ordinances into one proposal —ECPS. The ECPS ordinance created a seven member civilian commission to oversee the police and 66 elected positions across 22 police districts. This is an unprecedented step forward for civilian oversight of policing, not just for Chicago, but anywhere in the country. - Mobilized and trained grassroots candidates to run for the new District Council offices in 2023 – and saw a majority of ECPS-aligned candidates elected citywide.
Ready To Get Involved?
