Reclaim the Commission

We are calling on the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA) to protect the promise of community oversight by strengthening how decisions are made within the Commission.

Community Renewal Society (CRS) has long worked to ensure Chicagoans have a meaningful voice in public safety and police accountability. In 2021, we worked alongside our community partner, the Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability coalition, to help win passage of the Empowering Communities for Public Safety Ordinance, which established CCPSA.

As CCPSA conducts the search for Chicago’s next police superintendent, a disagreement over who serves on the search work group has raised a larger concern:

• CCPSA was created to give communities a stronger voice in police oversight. Its own decision-making should reflect that same commitment to shared power.

• If a majority of commissioners wants to discuss, vote on, or reconsider an issue, there should be a clear process for doing so.

True community oversight requires shared power, so we are urging CCPSA to amend its bylaws so that a majority of the full Commission can bring matters forward for discussion and a vote, and make decisions about committee and work-group assignments through a democratic, shared-power process.