ACLU, community groups get voice in Chicago police reforms

CHICAGO (AP) - The American Civil Liberties Union and several community organizations say they've reached an agreement to provide input reforms being proposed for the Chicago Police Department.

In the announcement Tuesday, the organizations say their agreement with the city and the Illinois attorney general's office allows them to offer input into the consent decree currently being negotiated and also take the department to court for noncompliance.

After a 2017 Department of Justice report hammering Chicago police practices, the city offered a draft police-reform deal that called for a monitor only. The ACLU and the community organizations then filed lawsuits calling for federal court intervention and community oversight of the Chicago Police Department.

City officials reversed course, deciding reforms should be carried out under federal court supervision.