Documentary Examines How Police Contract Language Hampers Accountability

BPI Director of Justice Reform Adam Gross is featured in a documentary released this week by Al Jazeera English examining Chicago police accountability in the aftermath of the Laquan McDonald shooting.

The Contract: Chicago’s Police Union, part of a series called Fault Lines, focuses on how provisions in the City’s contract with the Fraternal Order of Police create conditions that hamper investigations and can lead to cover-ups of improper actions. One of the problematic clauses in the contract calls for a mandatory 24-hour waiting period prior to the questioning of any police officer involved in a shooting. In the documentary, Gross, who served as a member of the Legal Oversight and Accountability Working Group of the Chicago Police Accountability Task Force, said that “in the worst case scenario, that waiting period gives (officers) an opportunity to concoct and to collude” with one another and cover up misconduct, as demonstrated in the death of McDonald.

There are four unions that represent Chicago police officers and all of the contracts include the provisions discussed in the documentary. Three of the contracts have expired. The fourth and largest will expire in 2017. BPI is working with a coalition of community-based organizations and civil rights groups to advocate for changes to all four contracts.

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