A strong and healthy democracy requires that its citizens know what its government is doing, particularly when that government makes decisions that threaten the lives of everyday citizens. In the contract negotiations between the police union and the City of Chicago, the police are trying to change a longstanding practice that fosters transparency in serious disciplinary proceedings against individual officers. The public interest in transparency is far too great to allow these proceedings to happen behind closed doors. That’s why Common Cause Illinois joined the Chicago Coalition for Police Accountability and Transparency, led by Color of Change, to urge that these proceedings continue to occur in a public forum.

Read the Amicus Brief here.

Read the press statement from the Chicago Coalition for Police Accountability and Transparency here.

Learn more about the issue here.