Daily Chicagoan: CPD Says Protest Response Showed 'Transformation.' Reform Advocates Disagree.

Welcome back to reality. We hope your holiday weekend was restful and rewarding. Today, we look at CPD’s big picture response to DNC protests, Stateville workers rallying against the planned prison closure, and more.

Spotlight Politics: Did CPD Pass the DNC Test?
Mayor Brandon Johnson and Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling quickly declared CPD's handling of sustained protests a complete success. CPD, which has faced decades of scandals and misconduct, had been "transformed," Snelling said. Not only had the ghosts of 1968 been exorcized, but the shadow cast by CPD's botched handling of protests and unrest during the summer of 2020 had been banished, Johnson said. But police reform advocates said the top cop and mayor's victory lap was premature, while warning that while CPD protected protesters constitutional rights during the convention, the department continues to face big challenges as it struggles to reform itself. The true test of CPD's transformation will come now that the national media spotlight has turned away from Chicago — and the next time spontaneous protests pop up across the country, advocates cautioned.
— Heather Cherone
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Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling discusses plans for a rally and march down Michigan Avenue on Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024. (Heather Cherone / WTTW News)

The 2024 Democratic National Convention was arguably closer to 1996 than 1968. The majority of protests were planned, expected and peaceful and the Chicago Police Department has been praising their response to them. Just eight complaints of police misconduct were filed with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability between Aug. 18 and Aug. 22, records show. By comparison, there were 591 misconduct complaints filed between May 29, 2020, and June 11, 2020, the height of the protests and unrest triggered by the police murder of George Floyd. What Mayor Johnson said:
“If the 1968 convention went down in history as the example of police brutality, then the 2024 convention will go down as the example of constitutional policing.”

What Alexandra Block, director of the Criminal Legal System and Policing Project at the ACLU of Illinois, said:
“[The Chicago Police Department’s] victory lap is a bit premature. The day-to-day interactions still target people of color are not the kind of respectful, de-escalatory interactions that CPD was able to achieve during the DNC.”

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Correctional workers and supporters lined up outside of Stateville Correctional Center on Aug. 29, 2024, to oppose the closure of the prison. (Blair Paddock / WTTW News)

For the past year, WTTW News investigative reporter Blair Paddock has been covering Stateville Prison, which has been ordered to close next month. While their stories have documented the allegations of abuse and unsafe living conditions, which resulted in the death of an inmate earlier this year, now they highlight the workers there. On Thursday, Stateville workers protested over the state’s plan to close and rebuild, citing concerns over safety and job stability. AFSCME Council 31 — the union that represents most Illinois Department of Corrections employees — has stated it supports building a new Stateville facility, but does not agree that the current facility must be shut down to construct a new one.
“We’re asking for no layoffs and no chaos,” said Eugene Washington, the president of AFSCME Local 1866.

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The 2014 Chicago Sky (Courtesy of the Chicago Sky / WNBA)
The Chicago Sky joined the WNBA before the 2006 season, but the team struggled in its first years in the league. Things changed in 2013 when the Sky finished the season with a 24-10 record. It was the team's first-ever playoff berth, anchored by 2013 Defensive Player of the Year Sylvia Fowles and 2013 Rookie of the Year Elena Delle Donne. Though the record would be worse the following season, on this day 10 years ago the team secured its first finals appearance. It was a tense Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals where a 24-point performance by Allie Quigley gave the Sky a 75-62 win. The Sky would go on to be swept by the Phoenix Mercury, but they’d get their payback
eventually. In 2022, the Sky, with 2014 team members Courtney Vandersloot and Allie Quigley, would finally win their first championship.
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