Live reporting by
Arieon Whittsey
1st Police District Council still in search of third council member.
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@ArieonWhittsey
Hi Chicago! I'll be live-tweeting the 1st police district council meeting (Loop/River West/Near South Side) at 5:30 p.m. today. @CHIdocumenters #CHIdocumentershello
12:27 PM Dec 5, 2023 CST
@CHIdocumenters This district only has two of three council member spots filled by Sarah Kammerer and Jamie Brown. In July the two members recommended a third candidate, Marcel Bright, chief of staff to Ald Pat Dowell, and Chicago Police Officer.
@CHIdocumenters Mayor Johnson's administration rejected Bright's application in early November. The vacancy for a third council member still remains unfilled.
@CHIdocumenters Donna Goodman began the meeting's public comment by asking how this council will be working to make officers more accountable. She was told that this could be answered during the Q&A Portion.
@CHIdocumenters Ann Cibulskis commented that the south loop is quiet and the residents' main interaction with the police is witnessing police lights, but never interacting directly with officers. She remarked that interacting with the police may lead to them working together better.
@CHIdocumenters She also commented that she knows a security guard in the area who has trouble getting responses from the police. She said people don't seem to know what to do with the lack of police response.
@CHIdocumenters In regards to the issue of lacking police presence she was speaking specifically about Deerfield and Roosevelt park
@CHIdocumenters Sarah Kammerer began with an overview of the role of the police district council. She said that the role of the council is to facilitate dialogue between citizens and the police.
@CHIdocumenters Kammerer spoke of the vacancy search giving an overview of the process and the declined appointment. This means that if Krammerer or Jamie is unable to make a meeting at the same time, then they cannot call a quorum and the meeting will be canceled.
@CHIdocumenters Jamie Brown spoke about the 14 nominations for the commission. She will be interviewing applicants once the application opens in January.
@CHIdocumenters She also spoke about having volunteer mutual aid, translators, and others to obtain temporary status for migrants. Two people have been granted temporary legal status.
@CHIdocumenters Kammerer talked about looking back at their time on the council since May of 2023. She expressed that they are seeking to learn from residents to better advocate for them and encouraged attendees to email her and Jamie.
@CHIdocumenters Brown gave an update on the goals of the council. One of them is bringing in speakers to educate the public on certain topics.
@CHIdocumenters A resident expressed frustration because she is the only person from her building who attended the meeting and worried that people do not know about the meeting.
@CHIdocumenters Kammerer expressed that the council is still trying to understand the challenges of the district and asked participants to keep speaking with them.
@CHIdocumenters Ann Cibulskis talked about getting students from colleges nearby to attend meetings. Kammerer responded that the central district has a unique experience because of the number of people who are within the district every day but don't live here.