On December 14, 2020, Anjanette Young, a Chicago social worker, courageously released a video of the CPD’s raid of her home—video that the City of Chicago fought to hide from the public for more than a year. Officers burst into Ms. Young’s home while she was naked, pointed their guns at her, and handcuffed her.
We've all seen what happened to Anjanette Young. We know it could happen to us. It has happened to some of us already.
A group of alderwomen, led by 49th Ward's Maria Hadden, along with Ms. Young has introduced an ordinance in order to stop violent, wrongful, and often inaccurate Police Raids.
Yet Mayor Lightfoot wants to again do things HER way. The Mayor, siding with police once again, has introduced a less protective executive order that only validates the harmful police tactics that victimized Ms. Young.
Mayor Lightfoot’s plan DOES NOT BAN NO-KNOCK WARRANTS, it does not protect children, it does not mandate accurate intel. It only changes who signs off on the raid. Also, Mayor Lightfoot’s plan is an executive order, as opposed to a law, meaning it can be changed any day.
The proposed order does not go far enough!
The only solution is the Anjanette Young Ordinance.
WHY THE ORDINANCE IS NEEDED
Unlike the Anjanette Young Ordinance, CPD's proposed Special Order does not:
1) Ban no-knock warrants.
2) Require that officers wait at least 30 seconds during knock and announce raids to give residents a chance to open the door to their home.
3) Require CPD officers executing home raids to act in a manner that is least intrusive and least harmful to the rights and safety of Chicago families.
4) Protect children from trauma and harm, including by: prohibiting officers from pointing guns at children; avoiding raiding a home during a time when children are likely present; prohibiting handcuffing and interrogating children; and avoiding handcuffing parents in front of their children.
5) Prohibit officers from pointing their guns at a person, unless the person presents an imminent risk of death or serious bodily injury to another.
6) Require SWAT officers to document when they point guns at people during a raid.
7) Prohibit midnight raids of family homes and require that home raids be conducted from 9am to 7pm, absent exigent circumstances.
8) Require officers to prepare a damage report and make immediate arrangements to address safety concerns caused by a raid, such as the breaking down of a door, which leaves a family vulnerable.
9) Require public reporting of data on all search warrants, including the causes of each negative raid, to give the community access and the means to hold CPD accountable.
10) Prohibit officers from obtaining warrants based upon information from informants who have provided false information that have led to negative raids in the past.