Hello and welcome to the first action project of my humanities course, Policy. In this unit, we've talked about policing and legislation. We had the opportunity to speak with Connie Jordan again. Connie Jordan is a public defender for Illinois. It is always amazing and informative to talk with her and I am so glad that she has chosen to speak with us twice. For this action project, we were supposed to take a piece of pending legislation and lobby for it. Meaning we were to write a letter in support of the legislation in order to show public need and want. I hope you enjoy this action project.
Tymony
1535 N Dayton
Chicago IL 60642
May 5th, 2020
Senator Emil Jones
507 West 111th street
Chicago IL, 60628
Dear Senator Jones,
On April 29th, 1992, four police officers were acquitted for the use of excessive force on a man named Rodney King. What came after the acquittal? Riots around Los Angeles mimicking the violent beating of Rodney King. This is a story we as people of color are all too accustomed to hearing. Unrest and protesting calling for action and begging the question: who polices the police?
It is a known fact that the data surrounding police officers’ use of deadly force towards black men and women, in particular, is grossly underreported or misreported if at all. Only 35 officers have been convicted of fatal use of deadly force since 2005. Just by looking at the news, we can see that this is grossly disproportionate to the number of unarmed people losing their lives to misuse of police power. Since I’ve started high school in 2017, there have been 1,196 killings of black and Hispanic people by police. That is approximately one killing per day. Just one shift.
Illinois does not have legislation protecting or providing justice from these acts.
There is an act that has been stagnant since 2017. The act calls for a thorough review of police activity after a police related shooting. It is labeled session sine die. The people who have seen this legislation have no intention of giving it a second glance.
Why not when in Chicago, a city where in the past 3 months there have been 3 unjust police shootings, have legislation like this in place? That is why I am lobbying to give this act life once again. It is so important to have accountability not only for the officer who committed the crime but also for the CPD in general.
There are counter-arguments that cite cases like Laquan McDonald or Eric Garner who say that since they were doing something technically that the officers should be vindicated. To that I ask, should death be the price of a mistake?
Senator Jones,
I am black, I take the red line home, I hang out in groups of 3 or more, and I carry a backpack. These are all reasons, according to CPD, that I am threatening to the public and especially to the officers.
In 20 years, I plan on having children. I hope that by then I can tell them that there is protection for them if they ever encounter the police and feel unsafe. I hope that this letter has convinced you to push forward to give this legislation new light.
Sincerely,
Tymony
Tambako the Jaguar, " Two Lemurs... " 2011 Hello and welcome to the first STEAM action project of my sophomore year! In this u...