Families Of Victims Of Police Violence Decry CPD Status Quo At Meeting
By aaroncynic in News on Jan 22, 2016 8:26PM
Members of the Chicago Police Board at last night's meeting. (Photo by Aaron Cynic/Chicagoist)
“You say you’ve asked the people to ask questions,” said Geneva Reed-Veal, the mother of Sandra Bland, a Naperville African American woman who was found dead in a Texas jail cell in July. If you are not writing down the questions how can you remember what we’re saying.”
Reed-Veal joined Martinez Sutton, the brother of Rekia Boyd, who was killed by officer Dante Servin in March of 2012, and LaToya Jones, the daughter of Bettie Jones, who was killed by police the day after Christmas 2015, according to the Sun-Times.
The trio criticized the slow-moving nature of the department and its reactions and investigations into the deaths of their loved ones at the hands of police. “We’re asked to be patient,” said Reed-Veal. “We’re asked to wait for years and months while you’re people are allowed to do all of what they want to do. They’re on administrative leave. Our people aren’t on administrative leave, they’re gone.”
Martinez Sutton, whose sister Rekia Boyd was shot and killed when officer Dante Servin fired into a crowd of people in Douglas Park in 2012, said that “this is the most fucked up club I’ve ever been in,” speaking of the group. Servin, who was found not-guilty on criminal charges, has not been fired from his job, though the Independent Police Review Authority, former Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy and many others have called for his removal. For months, community groups and activists, along with Sutton have been attending board meetings demanding the board fire Servin. It has still failed to act.
Police Board President Lori Lightfoot said that the board has heard “constructive criticism” from citizens and that it would play a factor in their search for a new police superintendent. Lightfoot said it would be weeks before it made its recommendations to Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
LaToya Jones, daughter of Bettie Jones, who was shot and killed when police shot and killed Quintonio LeGrier in December, said her mother died due to gun violence:
“That’s all we had was our mom, she was our everything. Now she’s gone. We lost our mom to gun violence. She didn’t die of a natural cause, she died at the hand of a trigger-happy cop.”