Ald.: Cops need to explain spying on protest groups
Criticizing what he called the Chicago Police Department’s “misplaced priorities,” an alderman called Wednesday for a City Council hearing into police spying on protest groups.
Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd Ward), a mayoral critic and leader of the council’s Progressive Caucus, characterized the police monitoring of labor organizations, Occupy Chicago, Rainbow PUSH and other demonstrators as unnecessary and intrusive.
“It’s a question of misplaced priorities by the Chicago Police Department,” said Waguespack. “Instead of using everything we have to go after violent crime plaguing this city, we’re going after protesters exercising their First Amendment rights.”
He cited Chicago Sun-Times reports that police have opened six investigations into protest groups since 2009. Most involved the use of undercover officers to watch or infiltrate the groups. After demonstrations in Ferguson, Missouri, last year, the police began using an intelligencegathering center in Chicago they share with federal au- thorities to collect Internet data on African-American and left-wing groups protesting police tactics.
Police officials have said the investigations are legal and crucial to protecting public safety. They also said department lawyers work with investigators to make sure that people’s rights are protected.
But Waguespack said the investigations are “absolutely politically motivated. Look at the groups they’re going after.”
The alderman noted that before Chicago hosted a NATO Summit in 2012, the City Council approved new regulations that required protesters to share event plans with the police — including details such as protest routes, the size of the gathering and the use of large banners or sound equipment.
“So the police already knew what these groups were doing,” Waguespack said.
He introduced his resolution at Wednesday’s City Council meeting and said he expected most of his Progressive Caucus colleagues to sign on as co-sponsors. He’s aiming for a hearing by early next year.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel took issue with the resolution’s claim that the police “failed to provide evidence” its surveillance programs require “any proper legal evidentiary standard of proof.”
“We’ll take a look at the notion,” Emanuel said, but he added, “I do believe that doing proper policing and civil liberties are consistent.”
Contributing: Fran Spielman
“INSTEAD OF USING EVERYTHING WE HAVE TO GO AFTER VIOLENT CRIME PLAGUING THIS CITY, WE’RE GOING AFTER PROTESTERS EXERCISING THEIR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS.’’
Ald. Scott Waguespack