Effort to Eliminate Racist Gang Databases Gets Support in Cook County

Lawndale News Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper - Local News

Lawndale News Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper - Local News

Last week, Commissioner Alma Anaya introduced legislation to address the County’s gang database. The ordinance was assigned to the Criminal Justice Committee and every commissioner joined as a co-sponsor. At a press conference, President Toni Preckwinkle called not only for the abolition of the County database, but also the City’s database, which organizations have been fighting to eliminate for over a year. The ordinance will prohibit the Sheriff’s office from finalizing negotiations with any law enforcement agency to hand over management of the Regional Intelligence Gang Database (RIGD) until any pending investigations by the Office of the Independent Inspector General (OIIG) are completed and made public. It would also prohibit additions to the database pending the release of the Inspector General report, mandate that people be notified of their designation, and halt the sharing of information with other law enforcement agencies. A similar ordinance at the City level was introduced by Alderman Muñoz in July, but stalled in committee. Chicagoans to Eliminate the Gang Database have a pending lawsuit against the City.

Comments are closed.