{"id":29881,"date":"2016-02-16T16:18:05","date_gmt":"2016-02-16T22:18:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=29881"},"modified":"2016-02-17T15:23:54","modified_gmt":"2016-02-17T21:23:54","slug":"urban-league-panel-works-out-community-trust-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/urban-league-panel-works-out-community-trust-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"Urban League panel works out community trust issues"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Thomas Vogel
\nVideo by Hannah Gebresilassie<\/strong><\/p>\n

Police tactics, mental-health awareness and youth engagement were top concerns for a panel of community leaders, government officials and media personalities assembled Tuesday for a community forum at the South Side headquarters of the Urban League of Chicago.<\/p>\n

[vimeo 155727836 w=474]<\/p>\n

Representatives from Chicago Police Department, community leaders and citizens discussed issues around building trust within the Chicago community, coordinated by Chicago Urban League and Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. (Hannah Gebresilassie\/MEDILL REPORTS)<\/div>\n

The event, co-sponsored by the Campaign for Political Reform, comes at a low point in the relationship between city government and residents. Persistent crime, lack of jobs and decreased government services coupled with several recent high-profile police shootings, including the killing of teens Laquan McDonald, Quintonio LeGrier and Cedrick Chatman have contributed to the rocky relationship. The panelists, who each brought a different professional perspective, helped workshop solutions but acknowledged the complexity of the problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s devastating to see the lack of trust,\u201d said Alexa James, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Chicago, a mental health organization. \u201cWe have years and year of work to be done. This is a significant culture change.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Moderator Robin Robinson, a veteran Chicago journalist, stressed the event should center on solutions, positivity and collaboration. Audience members and panelists, however, quickly focused the discussion on the sole representative from the Chicago Police Dept., Eric Washington, a deputy chief.<\/p>\n

James appealed to Washington to require more mental-health training for the department\u2019s beat officers and lamented the stigma rookie officers often feel when reporting stress to the department’s counseling branch.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are responding to someone\u2019s worst day, every day,\u201d James said. \u201cWe have no idea the trauma they go through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Washington admitted more training would be beneficial but reminded attendees although the department\u2019s current voluntary Crisis Intervention Team program has limited capacity, every district is staffed with officers who have completed the training and can respond to situations. The deputy chief also said it\u2019s important to not force officers to attend training sessions.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want people in there that are willingly to be there,\u201d Washington said.<\/p>\n

Another panelist, Rufus Williams, CEO of Better Boys Foundation Family Services, pressed Washington on the current policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are Laquan McDonald, you need that officer to be there at that time,\u201d Williams said. \u201cIf things are escalating quickly, you don\u2019t have time to call.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other attendees, including Marc Loveless, who lives in Bronzeville, were less kind to Washington. He asked the deputy chief, somewhat sardonically, if the department has a policy discourages officers from shooting citizens “in the back.”<\/p>\n

Acknowledging improving police interactions as an important way to establishing trust, Robinson and several panelists mentioned economic opportunity, community development and access to education as solutions, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s housing, It\u2019s employment,\u201d James said. \u201cIt\u2019s making sure your community is supportive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are talking about inequity,\u201d said Katya Nuques, executive director of Enlace Chicago. \u201cWe don\u2019t have self-determination.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robinson even asked each panelist directly to quantify, on a one to 10 scale, the level of trust between communities and city government. The answered varied, but most panelists put the number at around three.<\/p>\n

Despite criticism directed toward the CPD, attendees and panelists agreed any solution will be multifaceted and must involve community collaboration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to be met in the middle,\u201d Washington said. \u201cWe are stronger together than separate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Audience members at Tuesday’s community forum drilled down on issues of policing, mental-health and economic development in underserved communities. (Thomas Vogel\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Thomas Vogel Video by Hannah Gebresilassie Police tactics, mental-health awareness and youth engagement were top concerns for a panel of community leaders, government officials and media personalities assembled Tuesday for a community forum at the South Side headquarters of the Urban League of Chicago. [vimeo 155727836 w=474] Representatives from Chicago Police Department, community leaders […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":221,"featured_media":29912,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,30,675,585],"tags":[1393,1389,1340,1383,1391,61,1379,1381,587,128,1380,1392,742,1390,1384,1339,1382],"class_list":["post-29881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-interest","category-public-affairs","category-social-justice","category-winter-2016","tag-alexa-james","tag-better-boys-foundation","tag-bronzeville","tag-campaign-for-political-reform","tag-cedrick-chatman","tag-chicago","tag-department","tag-enlace","tag-laquan-mcdonald","tag-mental-health","tag-nami","tag-national-alliance-on-mental-illness","tag-police","tag-quintonio-legrier","tag-robin-robinson","tag-south-side","tag-urban-league"],"yoast_head":"\nUrban League panel works out community trust issues - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/urban-league-panel-works-out-community-trust-issues\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Urban League panel works out community trust issues - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Thomas Vogel Video by Hannah Gebresilassie Police tactics, mental-health awareness and youth engagement were top concerns for a panel of community leaders, government officials and media personalities assembled Tuesday for a community forum at the South Side headquarters of the Urban League of Chicago. [vimeo 155727836 w=474] Representatives from Chicago Police Department, community leaders […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/urban-league-panel-works-out-community-trust-issues\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-16T22:18:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-02-17T21:23:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/trustpresser-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"581\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"thomasvogel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"thomasvogel\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/urban-league-panel-works-out-community-trust-issues\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/urban-league-panel-works-out-community-trust-issues\/\",\"name\":\"Urban League panel works out community trust issues - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/urban-league-panel-works-out-community-trust-issues\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/urban-league-panel-works-out-community-trust-issues\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/trustpresser-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-16T22:18:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-02-17T21:23:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/d3fce8ed9d50c2d4447e2d2582719959\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/urban-league-panel-works-out-community-trust-issues\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/urban-league-panel-works-out-community-trust-issues\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/urban-league-panel-works-out-community-trust-issues\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/trustpresser-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/trustpresser-1.jpg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":581,\"caption\":\"An audience member at Tuesday's forum asks a question.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/urban-league-panel-works-out-community-trust-issues\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Urban League panel works out community trust issues\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\",\"name\":\"Medill Reports Chicago\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/d3fce8ed9d50c2d4447e2d2582719959\",\"name\":\"thomasvogel\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0860f09b9f840ceded7f1e4c47b5e81356c89b581f59ce7dc518a77684e77cd9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0860f09b9f840ceded7f1e4c47b5e81356c89b581f59ce7dc518a77684e77cd9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"thomasvogel\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/thomasvogel\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Urban League panel works out community trust issues - Medill Reports Chicago","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/urban-league-panel-works-out-community-trust-issues\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Urban League panel works out community trust issues - Medill Reports Chicago","og_description":"By Thomas Vogel Video by Hannah Gebresilassie Police tactics, mental-health awareness and youth engagement were top concerns for a panel of community leaders, government officials and media personalities assembled Tuesday for a community forum at the South Side headquarters of the Urban League of Chicago. [vimeo 155727836 w=474] Representatives from Chicago Police Department, community leaders […]","og_url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/urban-league-panel-works-out-community-trust-issues\/","og_site_name":"Medill Reports Chicago","article_published_time":"2016-02-16T22:18:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-02-17T21:23:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1100,"height":581,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/trustpresser-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"thomasvogel","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"thomasvogel","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/urban-league-panel-works-out-community-trust-issues\/","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/urban-league-panel-works-out-community-trust-issues\/","name":"Urban League panel works out community trust issues - Medill Reports Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/urban-league-panel-works-out-community-trust-issues\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/urban-league-panel-works-out-community-trust-issues\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/trustpresser-1.jpg","datePublished":"2016-02-16T22:18:05+00:00","dateModified":"2016-02-17T21:23:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/d3fce8ed9d50c2d4447e2d2582719959"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/urban-league-panel-works-out-community-trust-issues\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/urban-league-panel-works-out-community-trust-issues\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/urban-league-panel-works-out-community-trust-issues\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/trustpresser-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/trustpresser-1.jpg","width":1100,"height":581,"caption":"An audience member at Tuesday's forum asks a question."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/urban-league-panel-works-out-community-trust-issues\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Urban League panel works out community trust issues"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/","name":"Medill Reports Chicago","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/d3fce8ed9d50c2d4447e2d2582719959","name":"thomasvogel","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0860f09b9f840ceded7f1e4c47b5e81356c89b581f59ce7dc518a77684e77cd9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0860f09b9f840ceded7f1e4c47b5e81356c89b581f59ce7dc518a77684e77cd9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"thomasvogel"},"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/thomasvogel\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/221"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}