Impact for Equity

To love America is to acknowledge its imperfections and to look ahead to a more hopeful future. As we celebrate the 4th of July with the rest of the country, we commit to our part in advancing future milestones in the fight for equity. Thank you for supporting our work and sharing in our vision of true equality and justice for all. 

Impact for Equity strongly condemns the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson. Today’s ruling further criminalizes people experiencing homelessness by allowing local governments to penalize people for sleeping outside when they cannot access shelters or secure permanent housing. At Impact for Equity, we believe housing is a human right and the solution to the crisis of homelessness is more affordable housing, not criminalization. Today’s decision will aggravate the existing housing crises in cities across the country by legalizing the criminalization of homelessness at a time when the number of families experiencing homelessness on any given night is at an all-time high. Impact for Equity remains committed to addressing the root causes of housing instability and we will continue to fight for more affordable housing throughout metropolitan Chicago and Illinois. 

Broken down into three categories, the briefs studied the policing reforms included in the bill: the widespread adoption of body-worn cameras, a revised officer decertification system, and updated, more stringent standards around when officers can legally use force. But, according to Loren Jones, the criminal legal system director at Impact for Equity and the co-author of one of the briefs, implementation of those reforms has been “uneven,” with some departments “lagging” behind. https://lnkd.in/gtc3EypG

Last week Impact for Equity and Free2Move Coalition Members attended a federal court hearing on including traffic stops into the consent decree's oversight of CPD.  "We heard a lot from community members and their concern with the structure of the consent decree and also their fear that including traffic stops into the consent decree will create stagnant progression," said Joi Imohbio with the group Impact for Equity, an organization that has researched CPD's use of traffic stops for years. We believe traffic stops must be urgently addressed and that CPD should adopt the Free2Move Coalition's proposed three-part policy:  Eliminate pretextual stops Limit stops for low-level offenses End suspensionless consent searches https://lnkd.in/gk8xDQSA

"The latest study, comparing enforcement to who is using the road and looking at both traffic stops and camera tickets, builds on Impact for Equity’s findings, said Wenfei Xu, another of the study’s authors and a professor at Cornell. ‘If the aim is to arrest, (a traffic stop) doesn’t seem very effective in terms of how we’re spending taxpayer money,’ she said, citing the low arrest rate found by Impact for Equity." "‘It’s not resulting in any sort of public safety gains,’ said Amy Thompson, staff counsel for Impact for Equity’s criminal legal system section. ‘that really degrades trust between communities and law enforcement, when they perceive that they are just a target for law enforcement and not a true partner.’" https://lnkd.in/gss2Z62u

Meet our 2024 law & policy interns and the newest stars in our Impact Innovators Series! Impact for Equity hosts law and policy summer and academic-year interns and externs. Law and policy graduate students work individually and in collaboration within one of our two program areas—Criminal Legal System/Police Accountability and Housing! We can’t wait to see all the work they do this summer! Stay tuned to see them dive into Impact for Equity projects this summer! #ImpactInnovators #SummerInterns Welcome to Impact for Equity: April, Simone, and Emily!  

"Chicago police exercise discretion to target drivers and communities of color, with Black drivers being six times and Latino drivers two times as likely to be stopped. This "traffic stop and frisk" strategy treats Black and brown drivers solely as opportunities to find guns, rather than as valuable partners in creating public safety who are just as entitled to move freely throughout the city as any other Chicagoan."   There has been progress with recent drafted policy changes within the State Attorney's Office, a step in the right direction. However, we need an all hands on deck approach to create long-term solutions. https://lnkd.in/gKJ39v_D

Give a warm welcome to Daniel Kay Hertz! 👋 As Director of Housing, he's leading the charge on Impact for Equity’s housing work. With a rich background in housing policy, Daniel's past roles include driving impactful initiatives at the Chicago Department of Housing. From strengthening tenant protections to spearheading a $1.25 billion housing and economic development bond, Daniel's commitment to housing equity shines through. In 2018, he published a history on the origins of gentrification in Chicago, The Battle of Lincoln Park. He was named to Crain’s Chicago 40 Under 40 in 2022. Outside of work, Daniel loves diving into fiction, biking, and cherishing moments with his family. Learn more about Daniel here: https://lnkd.in/gVAaGkZ3

Impact for Equity's State of the SAFE-T Act series sheds light on the slow and uneven progress of SAFE-T Act reforms in Illinois, examining three key areas of the law: body-worn cameras, use-of-force, and officer decertification. Body-Worn Cameras: The SAFE-T Act mandates body-worn cameras for officers in Illinois. Our findings reveal the Chicago Police Department's inconsistent compliance with body camera activation. A lack of consequences for non-compliance, and poor reporting, also hinders transparency and accountability. Use of Force: Impact for Equity's analysis of use-of-force policies across ten Illinois law enforcement agencies highlights the need for stronger implementation of the new laws. Our analysis shows that these law enforcement agencies have outdated use-of-force policies and incomplete reporting. Decertification: Critical aspects of the officer decertification system remain unresolved, including the new discretionary decertification system which is not fully active and falls short of ensuring professional conduct standards. Three years since its passage, implementation of these aspects of the SAFE-T Act have made slow progress, leaving a wide gap in accountability and transparency, and undermining the intent of the act. Impact for Equity is calling for immediate action from the General Assembly, the State Executive Office, and relevant state and local agencies to overcome these roadblocks and achieve the goals set out by the SAFE-T Act. Learn more about The State of the Safe-T Act series here: https://lnkd.in/gwhyc9t9

"Black drivers are six times more likely to be stopped than white drivers," said Loren Jones, Director of Criminal Legal Systems for the non-profit group Impact for Equity. "Overall, the practice of stopping someone for a traffic violation is not unconstitutional, but when there’s a racial bias behind it, as we can see from the data, that’s when the constitutionality is called into question." https://lnkd.in/gU6Tfuyg