For Immediate Release: January 30, 2024
Contact: media@colorofchange.org 

In Chicago, Color Of Change Applauds Workforce Development Committee’s Rejection of Arbitrator Benn’s Ruling to Move Serious Police Misconduct Hearings Behind Closed Doors

Chicago – Today, the Chicago City Council Workforce Development Committee – for the second time – rejected Arbitrator Edwin Benn’s reaffirmed decision to move serious police misconduct cases from a public process decided by the Police Board to a private proceeding employing an unrepresentative group of private arbitrators as decision-makers, with limited judicial oversight. The Full Council first voted down this effort in December of 2023. In light of the Committee’s opposition to the Arbitrator’s ruling, Color Of Change released the following statement from Michael Collins, Senior Director of State and Local Government Affairs: 

“Police misconduct in Chicago has cost communities insurmountable grief, immense trauma, and hundreds of millions of dollars. Between 2019 and 2022 police misconduct cost Chicago taxpayers $295 million. This consensus today by the Workforce Development Committee takes into consideration the severity of those numbers, and the justified concern Chicagoans have about the consistent culture of misconduct by police in Cook County. If we want to curb trends of violence and unprofessionalism by Chicago’s police officers, we need to make sure there is an iron standard for responsibility – a standard that is public, transparent, and just. At Color Of Change we know that police misconduct has always disproportionately affected Black communities, and we are engaged in this fight for accountability because Black Chicagoans deserve to feel safe. We urge the full Chicago City Council to follow the Committee’s lead and reject Arbitrator Benn’s ruling, because the tremendous personal and financial cost of accepting this ruling puts communities in harm’s way.”

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Color Of Change is a founding member of the Coalition for Police Accountability and Transparency (CPAT), a cohort of more than a dozen community-based, civil rights and justice reform organizations focused on protecting and expanding mechanisms for police accountability and transparency in the city of Chicago. Color Of Change also has 45,000+ Color Of Change members based in Cook County.