After an American Civil Liberties Union report found that Chicago police were disproportionately stopping and frisking Black residents, the department has promised to reform its procedures.
On Friday, an ACLU lawyer revealed a five-prong process to mend the department’s controversial tactics and announced that the department had agreed to a series of independent evaluations to be conducted by the ACLU.
“We had months-long, careful negotiations that were very productive, and we’re very pleased with the outcome,” ACLU senior attorney Karen Sheley told the Huffington Post.
Earlier this year, the ALCU released a report examining the use of stop-and-frisk techniques throughout the nation’s police departments. It found that Chicago police officers used stop-and-frisk tactics four times as often as the NYPD, which, at the time of the report, had the second-highest rates.
The department has agreed to the following terms:
• A federal judge will review the policies that are currently in place
• The department will take steps to ensure that stop-and-frisk encounters don’t violate unreasonable search and seizure
• All stop-and-frisk searches will be recorded
• The recorded encounters will be given to a judge
• Police officers will undergo improved training that will clarify what constitutes a lawful stop.
“This settlement agreement is the most robust that’s been achieved on the issue of stop and frisk without a lawsuit or intervention by the Department of Justice,” Sheley said. “We think that’s important for getting to the remedy immediately.”