March 12, 2020

Thanks to high-quality investigative journalism and dedicated social justice work, it has become uncontroversial to say that the Chicago Police Department (CPD) has substantial room to improve how it deals with excessive force, police-involved shootings, and gun violence. These issues merit serious attention but so does CPD’s handling of gender-based violence—including domestic violence, sexual violence, and sex trafficking. 

The Chicago Police Board is uniquely situated to support changes at CPD and improve policing. It is tasked with recommending policy initiatives, making decisions on officer discipline, and selecting police leadership. Currently, the Board is in the process of nominating a new police superintendent. This is a special opportunity for the Board to ensure gender-based violence gets critically needed attention from Chicago law enforcement. 

Last year, there were 2,700 shooting victims in Chicago. But each year there are ten times as many domestic violence reports to CPD. In 2019, there were more than 27,000. The city also receives approximately 2,000 reports of child sexual abuse and 1,900 reports of sexual violence against adults annually. Gender-based violence is far more prevalent than gun violence in Chicago.  It is an epidemic and must be treated as such by the police department and its leadership. 

Public discourse about gun violence rarely acknowledges its relationship to domestic violence even though half of the American women shot to death each year are killed by their intimate partners. Additionally, more than 50% of mass shootings stem from domestic violence when perpetrators who target intimate partners kill others, too. One tragic local example is the death of Dr. Tamara O’Neal and others in the Mercy Hospital shooting.

Sexual violation and police misconduct are linked too. Sexual misconduct is the second most common form of police misconduct after excessive force. It includes actions from sexual harassment and extortion to rape by officers. This year, CAASE released a report about how Chicago enforces prostitution laws against people selling sex. Our research included interviews with women who were in the sex trade, some of whom self-identified as trafficking victims. Each one said they were harmed by police in some way, from being verbally harassed or groped to being forced to provide sex to avoid arrest.

We ask the Chicago Police Board to prioritize nominating a superintendent with a track record of addressing gender-based violence. Its prevalence proves that it requires the attention of city leadership just as much as gun violence. The Board should also make policy recommendations that prioritize CPD’s efforts to recover firearms from those who are prohibited from having them—like people convicted of domestic violence—as well as the enforcement of court protective orders. Such efforts simultaneously address gun violence and gender-based violence. 

We also encourage the Board to make policy recommendations that address sexual misconduct committed by CPD officers. The policy should reflect the seriousness of these offenses and hold bad actors accountable for the way they harm individuals and the trust between police and communities. This initiative would address multiple issues—including both police misconduct and gender-based violence.

Overall, we need an investment in a higher level of training for all officers regarding domestic violence, sexual harm, and sex trafficking. The consent decree requires trainings on these topics every 3 years. Considering domestic violence is one of the most-reported crimes in the city, every 3 years is not nearly enough. We hope the Police Board recommends a training structure and schedule that responds to the crimes officers regularly encounter.

The Chicago Police Board should seize this moment, which is ripe for reform and poised for new leadership, to make lasting changes that will benefit our city. CAASE will continue to advocate on behalf of survivors and press the police to take gender-based violence seriously.