TESTIMONY OF JANE RAMSEY

TESTIMONY OF JANE RAMSEY, CHICAGO WOMEN TAKE ACTION, ON POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY
HEARING, June 5, 2018 AMUNDSEN SCHOOL
Good evening. My name is Jane Ramsey and I am here tonight representing Chicago Women
Take Action, a group of women united in the commitment to achieve women’s leadership and
economic and social equality. As residents of Chicago, grandmothers, mothers, daughters and
partners, we have grieved for too many for too long who have been victims of police and
prosecutorial misconduct.
Over the past two years, CWTA has met with and
listened to community and organizational
representatives from across Chicago, seeking to
better understand the problems of our
communities and the possible solutions. We took
heed when the U.S. Department of Justice under
Pres. Obama called upon the need for police
department oversight given its egregious history
and the continuing tragedies, from the victims of
the notorious and convicted City of Chicago
Police Commander Jon Burge to Laquan
McDonald and too many beyond.
As a result, we are here to express our strong support for the recommendations of the grassroots
alliance for police accountability.

GAPA’s proposal would create a community safety oversight board to oversee the Chicago
Police Department, COPA and all other police oversight mechanisms. It would create district
councils in every police district that serve as a liaison between the community and the
commission. The district councils give civilians a real role in determining community-policing
strategies on a district level. The councils will work with district commanders to set priorities
and goals, and evaluate progress of the district level work. Accountability isn't abstract in this
proposal. The community has a central role through the commission and on the local level.
Chicago Women Take Action calls upon the Chicago City Council to adopt the GAPA
proposals. Chicago must move from its tortured painful history to ensuring justice.