Chicago, IL – 18 candidates for city council, plus one candidate for mayor, took part in a press conference today, January 9, at City Hall in Chicago. They announced their support for an elected Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC). Of the 212 candidates running, 47 support the CPAC legislation.

On January 8, the Center for Racial and Gender Equity issued a report which gave the current Chicago city council an F for racial justice issues. Their failure to pass CPAC was one of the reasons for their failing grade. It’s because of this terrible record that there are 212 candidates running for city council.

Each candidate at the press conference pledged that upon election, they would cosponsor the ordinance. The legislation would be the first in the country that puts an all-elected body over the police. No police officers or members of their immediate families could serve on the body.

Many of the candidates that spoke at the press conference cited the murders of Laquan McDonald and Rekia Boyd; the hundreds of men in prison as a result of confessions police tortured from them; and other victims of the Chicago Police Department, in their decision to support CPAC.

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