Police Union Angry with ACLU Over Police Deployment Lawsuit

By aaroncynic in News on Nov 17, 2011 9:40PM

The president of the Fraternal Order of Police is unhappy with a recent ACLU lawsuit filed over police deployment in minority neighborhoods. The lawsuit, filed by the ACLU and the Central Austin Neighborhood Association in October, asks the City to deploy officers “more equitably to serve all communities across Chicago.”

According to a press release last month:

The number of police officers deployed to specific areas of the City do not primarily consider either the rate of violent crime in a specific area or the number of emergency calls or delays in responding to those calls in each section of the City.

The Tribune reported FOP president Michael Shields said in a speech Monday beats should be decided by officials, the union, and the community, not the ACLU and a judge. He called the current state of police manpower “Enron accounting.”

Shields also criticized the City’s decision to host the G8 and NATO meetings this coming spring, pointing towards past instances of riots in other cities. Shields said “If we struggle to stop 14-year-olds from shooting each other, how prepared are we to (control) riots and agitators in this town?”