Chicago Seeking New Chief for Agency Investigating Police

Chicago Mayor, Rahm Emmanuel, has appointed some key people to seek out a replacement for that city's Independent Police Review Agency (IPRA). Former police superintendent, Garry McCarthy, Sarah Pang (co-chair of Emmanuel's election team), Rev. Michael Pfleger, councillor Deborah Graham, and Michael Rodriguez (executive director of local non-profit group) will form a committee to find a suitable replacement for Ilana Rosenzweig as IPRA's chief administrator.

Chicago Police Investigation Head to be Selected

Such agencies play a critical role in sustaining, maintaining, or enhancing the integrity of a police service. It provides an objective platform upon which public complaints may be brought forward with respect to conduct and management of any department.

American agencies have been in existence longer than their Canadian counterparts and, therefore, it is instructive to examine the trajectory of these particular oversight bodies to see how they are supported within the municipal structures of government, how they are funded to allow their work to proceed properly, and how they are constituted in order that they may be a positive, persuasive and (reasonably) powerful presence on the public policy landscape.

Canada has brought American expertise to lead the new Independent Investigation Unit in British Columbia. A new Independent Investigation Unit has been established in Manitoba flowing from the recommendations put forward by the Honourable Roger Salhany as a result of this review of the Chrysal Taman incident.

Whoever Mayor Emmanuel's committee picks to carry on the work of Ilana Rosenzweig, that individual will have a complex department to deal with and we can watch what transpires in the 'Windy City' with great attention. Rosenzweig was also a key member of the executive of the National Association of Civilian Overseers of Law Enforcement (NACOLE) and this leaves a gap in that important body which generates further insight for other similar organizations, such as the Canadian Association of Civilian Overseers of Law Enforcement (CACOLE).