This final recommendation pertains to a common thread which runs throughout this analysis.
Elected officials, oversight agencies, and the police department must commit to a period of adjustment for the accountability system. Whilst everyone in Chicago can point out flaws in the oversight system, they must commit to working out the kinks rather than merely criticising or making reactive large-scale reforms. COPA is a young organisation and its development in the past 5 years has been impressive given that it inherited a significant backload of cases from IPRA and faced the pandemic after barely 18 months of uptime. There are areas to improve, such as those discussed previously, but there must be a broad commitment to making the improvements rather than tearing it down or adding more layers of bureaucracy on top. The newest addition of the civilian review board has led to many in the oversight system feeling despondent and as though there is widespread unwillingness to work on solutions.
40 These thoughts are conjectural at present, however, when the new board is fully operational there must be a sanctioned period of adjustment and tinkering as well as a common set of metrics to define process and success in oversight. This commitment enables the previously outlined recommendations to be implemented properly and poses significant benefits to the health of oversight and its ability to deliver justice to Chicago.
41 6. Conclusion
This study found that tenets of procedural justice were being successfully implemented in the Chicago police accountability system. Authorities were motivated by their desire to help people and prevent misconduct. Processes are generally transparent, practitioners are honest and unbiased to the best of their ability, and there are avenues for stakeholders to exercise autonomy. According to procedural justice theory, the influence of these factors ought to increase perceptions of legitimacy and trust in the oversight system, and therefore increase stakeholder satisfaction, cooperation, and compliance.
However, some inhibiting factors emerged from the analysis. The oversight system is excessively complex. The barrier of entry for stakeholders and interagency competition and specialisation prevents stakeholders from fully understanding the process. Finally, the predisposition of American criminal justice towards punishment and deterrence is present in Chicago oversight to its detriment. These aspects combined pose significant structural barriers to expanding and benefiting from procedural justice in the oversight system as they effectively decrease transparency and increase cynicism.
Following these findings, this paper provided 4 recommendations. Optimising and committing to the basic structure, eschewing further reactionary reforms, and continuing to expand the educational work of oversight can improve the comprehensibility, accessibility, and transparency of the system. Finally, the addition of a restorative justice option to sustain complaints without requiring punishment ought to vastly improve both the efficiency of the investigative agencies, but also improve the satisfaction of victims and the recidivism of the offenders.
This study aimed to capture and evaluate a snapshot of the Chicago oversight system, its use of procedural justice to improve citizen relations, and the presence of limiting factors. Future research ought to examine how the treatment of individual case stakeholders affects broader perceptions, i.e., how the fair and just treatment of complainants influences the public view of
42 oversight, as this would better illuminate the societal impact of procedural justice in this context. Furthermore, future studies of the new civilian review board and complaint mediation trial schemes would augment the analysis of this paper.
Although the prospect of defunding the police has grown to be the favoured mantra of the activist side of police misconduct discourse, civilian oversight remains the favoured approach of most US cities. Chicago’s history, whilst unique, reflects the broad patterns of American law enforcement and its racism, classism, and sexism. Oversight practitioners in Chicago stated they want their city to be nation-leading in accountability practices and expressed optimism that they were headed in the right direction. Indeed, this paper found there was reason to be optimistic, but to truly be the example for the nation, further refinement and progress are required.
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