Too often, police break into homes with guns pointing, shouting expletives and frightening innocent children and families.

The Chicago Police Department’s invasion of Anjanette Young’s home and disregard of her pleas is systemic degradation.

When the city of Chicago rejected the vast majority of the recommendations of the Use of Force Working Group for reforming the policies of the Chicago Police Department, it once again chose to rely on the status quo rather than engage in meaningful reform.

Community Renewal Society, as a member of the Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability coalition, continues to fight for the GAPA Ordinance developed by community members and coalition allies.

In 2017, CRS, alongside Communities United, One Northside, Next Steps, Equity for Equality and the ACLU of Illinois, launched a lawsuit against the City of Chicago and we officially settled that lawsuit on May 17, 2019.

On Thursday, January 31, 2019, history was made in Chicago. Never before has a court-enforced consent decree to reform a city's police department been filed without the support of the U.S. Department of Justice. Here in Chicago, with the final approval of Federal Court Judge Robert Dow, the first measure of this kind became a reality.

Fundamental to navigating the staircase is understanding racism, or perhaps better stated, "racialization.”

Rahm Emanuel shocked the city when he announced he would not be running for a third term. Many think it is time. Amid the largest round of school closings in Chicago’s history, record tax increases for Chicago residents to pay city pensions, record high days of gun violence, and the cover-up/debacle of the murder of Laquan McDonald that resulted in a federal investigation, many would argue that it has been time for Emanuel to leave for a while.

CRS's Police Accountability work can be visualized as a three-legged stool. Our coalition work in the areas of community-based police oversight (Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability) and police contracts reform (Coalition for Police Contracts Accountability) stand as the first two legs.

The public has until this Friday to call for Chicago Police reforms! Comment period ends August 17.

In the aftermath of Harith's murder, the question must be asked: are our communities of worship silent?

On Memorial Day morning, Sunday May 30, 1937, workers gathered at the Steel Workers Organizing Committee union headquarters and then advanced to...

The challenges are present, the struggle is difficult, and the risks are real, whether as a parent or as an organization.

Community Renewal Society is committed to police accountability and reform that centers the needs of those most directly impacted by police misconduct.

The City of Chicago’s contracts with the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and the Illinois Policemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (PBPA) are currently under negotiation. The current contracts codify policies that enhance the code of silence in the police department. The contracts do not effectively hold police accountable, they make it hard to identify and investigate police misconduct, and they allow police to lie about misconduct.

The FAIR COPS Ordinance would immediately increase police accountability by establishing an Office of Police Auditor to independently monitor patterns of police misconduct, ensure that officers are investigated and held accountable for their actions, and make policy changes that provide meaningful systemic reform. As people of faith, we are called upon to demand justice now.

Update: The Chicago City Council is scheduled to vote on the Mayor's ordinance on Thursday, September 29, 2016.  CRS does not endorse the Mayor's ordinance.

A new research report from Community Renewal So.ciety finds that the two civilian oversight agencies charged with investigating and disciplining police misconduct in Chicago.

Clearly, we have a reprehensible police accountability problem in Chicago. Read Part 1 of this blog for an in-depth look at the numbers that demonstrate just how bad it is.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, and other top brass at city hall would have you believe that Chicago’s policing and police oversight are the standard of excellence.

They say that police and community relations have improved, the Superintendent just finished a “community listening tour,” the newly-created Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) is holding police accountable for misconduct, and the Police Board has fired the “bad cops.”