Institute of Politics

After over a year of investigation, on January 13, 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice released a 164-page report which concluded that the Chicago Police Department’s officers are poorly trained and quick to use excessive and deadly force, most often against African-Americans and Latinos, without facing consequences. In response to the report, Mayor Rahm Emanuel agreed to enter a court-enforced agreement with the Justice Department that covers a wide range of reforms, and the report highlights several necessary avenues of reform to be pursued. However, the report arrives as the future of nationwide police reform is unclear, as President Trump took to Twitter to say “If Chicago doesn’t fix the horrible ‘carnage’ going on…” he would “send in the feds.” Join the IOP’s News & Views Committee to discuss the legal and policy aspects of the report as well as the implications of Trump’s presidency on police action in Chicago with Clinical Professor of Law Craig B. Futterman—who specializes in civil rights lawsuits focusing on matters involving police brutality and racial discrimination and has litigated a number of noteworthy cases — and Anthony Berglund who is a Research Manager with the University of Chicago Crime Lab. News and Views: The News & Views event series provides UChicago students with the opportunity to hear from prominent Chicago-based academic, civic, and media leaders in a meaningful, off-the-record conversation, about news of the day. The committee produces events with a very quick turnaround to discuss the world's most pressing stories. In the 2015/16 year, the committee hosted nine events on topics ranging from ISIS to Apple security.