Public meeting seeks input about city handling of Chicago police misconduct
CHICAGO (WLS) -- A public meeting to discuss how the city of Chicago handles police misconduct cases will be held Tuesday.
The meeting is the first of five meetings being held by the City Council's Public Safety Committee and comes nine months since the launch of the new Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA), which is tasked with investigating police misconduct.
Sydney Roberts, who took over as COPA chief administrator just over a month ago, said she aims to build trust in the community and engage residents.
"The prior iterations of COPA really did not meet the people where they were in the way that COPA is doing. We have a very vibrant and robust community engagement program," Roberts said Tuesday.
WATCH: SYDNEY ROBERTS TALKS ABOUT COPA
One issue is whether COPA recommendations have any consequence.
Recently, COPA determined that Officer Robert Rialmo was unjustified in the 2015 fatal shooting of both Quintonio LeGrier, 19, who he said lunged at him and neighbor Bettie Jones, who was caught in the crossfire.
COPA recommended firing Rialmo, but CPD Supt. Eddie Johnson disagreed, calling COPA's investigation flawed.
When there is a disagreement between the superintendent and COPA, the case goes to the Chicago Police Board, which is made up of people appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and approved by the City Council.
Tonight's meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Corliss High School in the Pullman neighborhood. Another meeting will be held 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Gage Park High School.
COPA will host community hours every third Tuesday of the month, where the public can ask questions. They will be held at the Chicago Public Library's South Shore branch, 2505 E. 73rd St. The community hours will be held noon to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 19 and July 17.
