Who Watches The Watchmen?

Howard Street March 2013

#Chicopwatch tweets started appearing July 17th. Almost a month before Ferguson. We Charge Genocide the organization behind #chicopwatch was interviewed on Vocalo recently (a regular morning show on 88.7 WLUW).

Some people are reassured when they see the cops shaking down teens and young adults in the city. Others are ashamed and alarmed. Who's right and who's wrong? Like everything its not black and white, pun intended.

Still We Rize @Baburrealer reported the first #Chicopwatch transgression in Rogers Park on August 12th. Underneath the photo he wrote "In Howard cpd is harassing another black man for no reason. He is not holding back. " Actually its Fargo. How does the writer know that its "harassing for no reason"? And who is "he" that is not holding back?

Sara-Ji@sarahdashji tweeted the second #Chicopwatch report here in the RP August 29th. "#RogersPark #Northshore and #Clark Too common a sight." Is it a common sight because the cops are racist or that the gangs on Clark are hispanic?

Please continue reading for more pictures and words

first tweet

#Chicopwatch became public knowledge in Rogers Park when the Chicago Light Brigade used their light boxes to pose the question Who Polices Cops? on the last day of the Glenwood Art Festival August 17th. It wasn't a trivia question. The rhetorical answer is Internal Affairs. Now we know the answer; WCG and #Chicopwatch.

Apparently its now okay to video record CPD like this instance in East Garfield Park. The eavesdropping law was declared unconstitutional earlier this year.

We Charge Genocide have been holding meeting regarding police violence and cop watch training. First #Chicopwatch training was held August 21st @ the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health @ 226 S. Wabash. "If you see something say #Chicopwatch" is their motto. WCG has a link on their website where you can report unsatisfactory police encounters.

"If you experience or witness Chicago Police harassing young people - blast any details (i.e. location, brief description of what's happening, number of people involved, etc) on Twitter using the hashtag #chicopwatch. 

Side-eye (Harder) outlines ten steps to address police violence in Chicago. One of them is to stop calling the cops. Another one is to film the police since its legal to do so now. Taking this to its natural conclusion cops will have a hard time getting anything done because every Tom Dick and Harry will be pulling out their phone to videotape the crime scene and any police investigation. Will it be legal to follow police cars to make sure they aren't oppressing anyone at their destination? (How to respond if your cop watching activities are questioned.)

Six general rules of thumb
for dealing with cops

A second Cop Watch training session is being held September 4th @ 1180 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Well if you are gonna be a cop watcher not calling them is a good first step. Because who's gonna help you out when the chips are down? We do need checks and balances otherwise power is abused. Is #Chicopwatch the answer to police brutality? Or is an independent police board needed as WCG proposes? Or body cameras for everyone?