Photo caption: BISHOP TAVIS GRANT (second from right) passes the microphone to Frank Chapman (far right) during a panel discussion in the Rainbow PUSH office earlier this year. (Photo by Chinta Strausburg)
Frank Chapman, executive director of the National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression, is hosting the National Alliance conference celebrating its 50th anniversary on November 3-5 to be held at the Chicago Teachers Union Hall, 1901 W. Carroll St.
The guest speaker will be Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates, who will speak about community control of the police. Chapman will be the keynote speaker of the conference, speaking about how empowering the community for public safety is the solution.
Chapman was referring to the historic February 28 municipal elections where voters elected civilian leaders to the 22 newly created Police District Councils (PDCs).
Voters elected candidates to take 66 Council seats that were spread across the 22 Police Districts. Each of the districts had three members that included a chairman, a community engagement coordinator, as well as a member of the citywide committee that nominates members to the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA), according to the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.
“We elected people, ordinary people, who will hold police accountable for what they do and don’t do,” Chapman told the Chicago Crusader.
Asked his opinion on the confirmation of Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling, Chapman said, “I feel like this is the moment of truth when we get to see how this is going to work. For the first time in Chicago’s history the community, not just the politician, has chosen a new police chief.
“As a result of community meetings, the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability recommended three finalists that were given to the mayor to make the final choice. That, Chapman said, is the democratic process.
“Now we will see what fruit it bears.” He said under this new system, the people will continue to hold the Superintendent accountable for his actions.
“This process does not end by the appointment of this young man by the mayor,” Chapman stated.
His organization has already presented Snelling with demands that include having the police “to be responders and respectful of the Consent Decree that’s been in place by the federal courts for a number of years, which the Chicago Police Department has evaded for years. We’d like to see this addressed by Snelling.
“We would like to see the stop-and-frisk that’s been going on and racial profiling that’s been going on in the Police Department addressed and put to an end,” said Chapman. “We need to stop the racist policies of stopping Black people at random and searching them without a cause. These kinds of practices have to be stopped.
“We will be leaning on this new police chief, and we will be meeting with him and demanding that he address these issues.”
To register for the convention, visit caarpr.org.
