Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/667345
ByDonBabwinand Jason Keyser The Associated Press CHICAGO A day after a task force blasted the Chi- cago Police Department for decades of discrimination, city and law enforcement officials weighed which of the panel's recommenda- tions could be adopted and how much they might cost. The only thing that was clear about the 190-page report is that it can't sim- ply be shoved into a desk drawer and forgotten. "Either we act now and do the right thing or the Department of Justice is going to mandate that we turn and do the right thing," Alderman Anthony Beale said, referring to a separate review of Chicago police practices being con- ducted by the federal gov- ernment. The task force created late last year by Mayor Rahm Emanuel portrayed the Chicago department as a place where racist of- ficers have been able to hide behind rules and pro- cedures and police brutal- ity was easily kept secret. Chicago officers have "no regard for the sanc- tity of life when it comes to people of color," the pan- el's report said. The report issued Wednesday also offered a list of suggested reforms, including increasing the number of body cameras and posting complaints against officers and their discipline records online for everyone to see. The Justice Department launched a civil rights probe of the police force in the wake of the Novem- ber release of a video show- ing a white officer firing 16 bullets at black teenager Laquan McDonald, kill- ing him. That investigation will almost certainly result in another list of proposed changes that can't be ig- nored. That is what the city of Ferguson, Mis- souri, learned after a sim- ilar Justice Department probe into the death of Mi- chael Brown Jr., the black 18-year-old whose fatal shooting by a white officer helped launch the Black Lives Matter movement. The Ferguson City Coun- cil rejected as too expen- sive a Justice Department plan that included hiring a monitor and outfitting all officers with body cameras, only to back down when it was hit by a federal law- suit. "Change is coming," said Lori Lightfoot, the head of the task force. "And it would be better for the de- partment, for individual officers and for our city for us to take control of our own destiny and not have the Department of Jus- tice force a solution on us that may or may not make sense for Chicago." How much might it cost? In much smaller Ferguson, for example, the Justice Department's measures were estimated to require well over $2 million over three years. "We're clearly talk- ing about millions of dol- lars," Lightfoot said. But, she noted, millions are be- ing found "every month, every year" to pay for le- gal settlements and court judgments involving peo- ple who were mistreated by police. The task force recom- mendations call for creat- ing several positions, in- cluding an inspector gen- eral and deputy police chief — both positions with salaries of at least $170,000. The department is al- ready doing some of the things the task force rec- ommends, including offer- ing training for officers in de-escalating encounters with people in the throes of a mental health crisis. To see how other ideas might be adopted, Chi- cago in some cases need only look as far as the suburbs. DuPage County already has a so-called Smart911 system, which allows households to cre- ate a safety profile with information about fam- ily members with mental health problems or other medical issues. The profile pops up dur- ing 911 calls and allows dis- patchers to give respond- ing officers detailed infor- mation before they arrive on the scene. The system costs the county about $145,000 a year. TASK FORCE Chicago weighs cost, complexity of proposed police changes TERRENCEANTONIOJAMES—CHICAGOTRIBUNEVIAAP From le , Randolph Stone, Maurice Classen and Joseph Ferguson, of the Task Force on Police Accountability attend a news conference at the Harold Washington Library Center in Chicago on Wednesday. SETH WENIG — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, takes notes as Hillary Clinton speaks during the CNN Democratic presidential primary debate at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on Thursday in New York. By Julie Pace and Catherine Lucey The Associated Press NEW YORK Deepening their increasingly bitter feud, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders aggressively challenged each other's judgment to be president in Thursday night's Demo- cratic debate, sparring over Wall Street banks, how high to raise the minimum wage and gun control. The showdown in Brook- lyn came at a pivotal mo- ment in the party's pri- mary campaign, with Clin- ton leading in the delegate count but Sanders generat- ing huge enthusiasm for his surprising candidacy. The Vermont senator took a biting and often sar- castic tone as he sought to chip away at Clinton's cred- ibility on issue after issue. He went as far as to suggest that her labeling of certain criminals as "superpreda- tors" when she was first lady was "a racist term and everybody knew it was a racist term." Sanders also cited Clin- ton's support for the unpop- ular Iraq war and for free trade agreements, as well as her willingness to ac- cept money through a su- per PAC, as evidence that she lacks the needed judg- ment to lead the nation. Still, he backed away from previous statements ques- tioning Clinton's qualifi- cations, saying the former secretary of state does have the "experience and intelli- gence" to be president. Clinton made little effort to hide her irritation with Sanders' challenging of her qualifications, saying that while she has been "called a lot of things in my life, that was a first." She repeatedly linked herself to President Barack Obama, who re- mains popular among Dem- ocrats, suggesting Sanders' criticism of her amounted to condemnation of the president. Clinton cast Sanders as unprepared to implement even his signature policy proposals, including break- ing up big banks. She also chided Sanders for chuck- ling during an exchange on gun control, an area where she has painted him as cozy with gun dealers and man- ufacturers. "It's not a laughing mat- ter," she said. "I take it re- ally seriously because I have spent more time than I care to remember being with people who have lost their loved ones." The debate was the first for the Democratic candi- dates in five weeks. It came ahead of Tuesday's primary in New York, a high-stakes contest with a huge cache of delegates at stake. For Clinton, a win in a state that twice elected her senator would blunt Sand- ers' recent momentum and put his pursuit of the nomi- nation further out of reach. A Sanders upset over Clin- ton would shake up the race, raising fresh con- cerns about her candidacy and breathing new life into the Vermont senator's cam- paign. The Democratic primary has been fought for months on familiar terrain. Clinton has cast Sanders' propos- als for breaking up banks and offering free tuition at public colleges and univer- sities as unrealistic. Sand- ers has accused Clinton of being part of a rigged eco- nomic and political system, hammering her repeatedly for giving paid speeches to Wall Street banks and re- fusing to release the tran- scripts. Clinton continued to struggle to explain why she has not released the tran- scripts, saying only that she'll do so when other can- didates are required to do the same thing. The senator pledged to release his most recent tax returns on Friday, and said there would be "no big money from speeches, no major investments" in the disclosures. The candidates also sparred over raising the fed- eral minimum wage, with Sanders expressing surprise as Clinton voiced support for efforts to set the hourly pay rate at $15, the level he has long backed. Ready to be president? Clinton, Sanders dispute each other DEMOCRATIC DEBATE P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 Support our classrooms, keep kids reading. DONATE YOUR VACATION newspaper dollars to the Newspaper In Education Program HELP OUR CHILDREN For more details call Circulation Department (530) 73 7-5047 5,178fans+23 this week | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2016 4 B