With the primaries behind us, we can expect a dramatic increase in political grandstanding ahead of when the Democratic National Committee arrives for its convention this summer and when we vote again in November. As always seems to be the case, we’re sure to hear a lot of the same old talking points about public safety and being “tough on crime.”
When it comes to crime in Chicago, though, it’s long past time to talk about something new: holding the Chicago Police Department accountable for its failure to solve the city’s homicides, especially in Black and brown communities.
The phrase “tough on crime” has been a favorite among politicians for decades, mainly because it’s vague enough to mean whatever they want voters to think it means. Practically, though, “tough on crime” has translated into fearmongering about Black and brown people even as our neighborhoods are overpoliced and underserved. This is a painful reality underscored by one simple statistic: In Chicago, the killings of white people are more than twice as likely to be solved than those of Black people.
The larger truth is that no one should feel especially confident that CPD will “clear,” or solve, homicides that occur. In 2020, for instance, the city recorded 770 homicides, according to the Tribune, and a 45% clearance rate, but that number is even worse than it appears — because nearly a fifth of 2020’s cleared cases took place prior to 2016. All of which is why the Homicide Data Transparency Act, recently introduced in Springfield by state Rep. Kam Buckner, is so urgently necessary.
Much of the jargon around law enforcement data is opaque and even misleading. A homicide is considered “cleared” when an arrest is made or police have closed the case, which they may do for any number of reasons, whether the suspect died, the department simply declared the case cold or law enforcement officials decided they weren’t going to arrest the suspect. Such clearances are designated “cleared by exceptional means,” and any surviving loved ones are left to guess why.
In fact, the lack of transparency has allowed CPD officials to mislead the public about how well the Police Department is doing. Earlier this year, CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling had to backtrack on remarks he made on clearance rates at a West Side public safety meeting and at the Economic Club of Chicago.
Moreover, communities living in the traumatic aftermath of unsolved homicides are far too often accused of maintaining a “no snitch rule,” indicating they are to blame for clearance failures. Chicago police have repeatedly squandered the trust of Black and brown residents. It’s equally true that when our loved ones are violently stolen from us, we’re anxious for justice and closure. In scapegoating survivors, CPD literally adds insult to injury.
Buckner’s Homicide Data Transparency Act, an amendment to the 2016 Uniform Crime Reporting Act, or UCR, would require Illinois law enforcement agencies to publish the number of homicides that take place in their jurisdiction every month, based on the victim’s time of death, along with how many suspects have been arrested and charged and how many homicides have been cleared, or closed, for any other reason. Such transparency is crucial not only for survivors’ peace of mind and healing, but also because it would serve to meaningfully improve what is one of the few tools Illinois residents have to measure their local police department’s efficacy.
Buckner has painful personal knowledge of how the heart shatters when a loved one is killed and no one is ever held accountable. His uncle was slain when Buckner was only 9 years old; nearly 30 years later, the case still has no leads, he said. Tragically, like far too many Black and brown Chicagoans, we share similar experiences from our own communities.
As this summer’s Democratic convention approaches, CPD will be asked repeatedly about its plans to ensure public safety around the event. Those plans should be judged within the context of its old history of fomenting violence and its much more recent history of failing to do the most fundamental of its jobs: Solve crime.
The city has long uplifted a version of public safety that focuses on the purported needs of tourists while failing the Black and brown people who live here. The UCR and its proposed amendment are powerful tools for empowering Chicago residents to evaluate CPD effectiveness, ensure police accountability and build community trust.
Election years have long seen great emphasis placed on who is and is not “tough on crime.” This year, we should do less fearmongering and instead acknowledge that public safety in Chicago means Black and brown communities too.
The Rev. Ciera Bates-Chamberlain is the executive director and Artinese Myrick the policy and organizing manager at LIVE FREE Illinois, an organization dedicated to ending gun violence and healing affected communities.
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