CRS Celebrates and Continues to Demand Systemic Change!
The Arc of the Moral Universe is Long, But it Bends Toward Justice.
- Original quote from 19th century abolitionist and Unitarian minister Theodore Parker popularized by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., March 31, 1968
Community Renewal Society and our network of more than 50 justice-seeking faith communities in and around Chicago celebrate the passage of the Empowering Communities for Public Safety Ordinance by the Chicago City Council. Register today to attend our Leader and Volunteer Meeting virtually on August 19 to celebrate and hear what comes next. The coalitions behind the victory will host an in-person celebration at Union Park on August 24.
“The ECPS ordinance sets up the foundation for transformational change in policing,” said Rev. Dr. Waltrina Middleton, the Executive Director of the Community Renewal Society. “At the heart of ECPS is community--the ordinance centers community and provides policy-making power, geographic diversity and encourages non-policing solutions to be utilized. By opening the door to more community involvement, better policies and improved ways of policing will happen.” Read our press release.
Thank you to our congregations and the community organizations that continue to mobilize their members in support of increased police accountability. Thank you to the chief sponsors of the ECPS Ordinance, Leslie Hairston, Harry Osterman, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa and Rod Sawyer, as well as the alderpersons who listened to their constituents and voted yes. View the full list here. Chicago residents, please reach out to your alderperson to either thank them for voting yes or to express your disappointment if they voted against our community’s demand for civilian oversight.
Systemic change requires financial support and we could not have achieved this significant accomplishment without our donors. Thank you to the many individuals and congregations who have financially supported CRS’ work in police accountability. We are deeply grateful to the foundations who support the Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability. These funders include, Albert Pick Jr. Fund, Alvin H. Baum Family Foundation, Borealis Philanthropy, Chicago Community Trust, Crown Family Philanthropies, Field Foundation, Irving Harris Foundation, Joyce Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, Robert R. McCormick Foundation and the Woods Fund Chicago.
CRS also applauds Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker for signing recent bills, as part of the Safe-T Act, that help Illinois enjoy increased community safety and police accountability. Senate Bill 2122 bans law enforcement officers from lying to minors during interrogations and Senate Bill 64 encourages prioritizing restorative justice practices. Those practices sit at the heart of CRS’ community safety and police accountability work.
While these new laws bring us steps closer to the Illinois we want to live in, the work is not done. All of us must continue to do the good work of organizing our communities, taking action and demanding meaningful change! We invite you to join our Police Accountability Issue Team. Email us.
Today, Illinois residents and those who have felt the brunt of the criminal justice system are in a better place. The road ahead invites us all to dig deeper and be more expansive in our call for a compassionate justice system that lifts up, holds together and repairs harm.
In Solidarity,