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CHICAGO POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY FORUM 2023
Presented by the Chicago Council of Lawyers
On Thursday, July 20, 2023, Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts &
Chicago Council of Lawyers hosted our Annual Forum on Chicago Police Accountability.
Moderator Sharon Fairley (Professor from Pratice, University of Chicago Law School) was joined in discussion by the panelists listed below.
CONFIRMED PANELISTS
Andrea Kersten
Chief Administrator of the Chicago Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA)
Jamie Kalven
Writer & Founder of
Invisible Institute
Karen Kane
District Council Woman for
the 18th Police District
Remel Terry
Interim Commissioner for the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA)
Deborah Witzburg
Inspector General for
the City of Chicago
Andrea Kersten currently leads the Civilian Office of Police Accountability as the Chief Administrator. In response to widespread protests in 2020, Kersten was tapped to form COPA’s Protest/Civil Unrest Unit, a specialized squad uniquely organized to receive, review and triage mass protest-related complaints.
Jamie Kalven is a writer and founder of the Invisible Institute and has reported extensively on patterns of police abuse and impunity. He was the plaintiff in Kalven v. Chicago, in which the Illinois appellate court ruled that documents bearing on allegations of police misconduct are public information.
Karen Kane is a dedicated community leader with a life-long record of public service. She is actively engaged with the 18th Police District to reduce crime thru CAPS, and is also as the newly elected District Council Woman for the 18th Police District.
Remel Terry is a community leader and advocate who proudly represents Chicago's Westside. Most recently, Remel was appointed as an Interim Commissioner for the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA).
Deborah Witzburg serves as Inspector General for the City of Chicago, leading Chicago’s independent, non-partisan watchdog agency charged with promoting economy, efficiency, effectiveness, and integrity in City government. Witzburg earned a BA in Anthropology from Brown University and a JD from Northwestern University School of Law.
PANEL MODERATOR
Sharon R. Fairley
Sharon Fairley is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School and has taught at the Law School since 2015. She became a Professor from Practice in 2019. Sharon's teaching responsibilities include criminal procedure, policing, and federal criminal law.
Before joining the Law School, Sharon spent eight years as a federal prosecutor with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, investigating and trying criminal cases involving illegal firearms possession, narcotics conspiracy, bank robbery/murder, murder for hire and economic espionage, among other criminal acts. She also served as the First Deputy Inspector General and General Counsel for the City of Chicago Office of the Inspector General. In December 2015, following the controversial officer-involved shooting death of Laquan McDonald, Fairley was appointed to serve as the Chief Administrator of the Independent Police Review Authority, the agency responsible for police misconduct investigations. Sharon was also responsible for creating and building Chicago's Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
Questions
SUBMIT QUESTIONS TO THE MODERATOR
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