TONIGHT 7p-8:30p TWEET STORM for @EquitablePolice at U of C

TWITTER STORM TONIGHT! ~ Wednesday, October 29
7 PM to 8:30 PM ~ Central Time

Join the Coalition for Equitable Policing at U of C (@EquitablePolice) for a twitter storm on privatization, profiling, & police!

The group is organizing for University of Chicago Police Department transparency and accountability. An @SSNuchicago campaign.

For more info on the campaign, visit: ucpd-reform.squarespace.com or see the bottom of this paste.


<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<   STEAL THESE TWEETS!!!!   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

HASHTAGS: #showmeyourucid #privatepolicingmeans


#privatepolicingmeans a wealthy institution creating an imperial and racist divide between campus and community

#privatepolicingmeans unchecked racial profiling of Black students and community members

#privatepolicingmeans officers with the power to arrest and shoot civilians yet have no public accountability

CFO Chinniah says that #privatepolicingmeans officers trained to privilege students over all others in the UCPDs 65000-person juristiction

According to Assistant Chief of UCPD Gloria Graham, #privatepolicingmeans officers who “enforce the @UChicago bubble”

#showmeyourucid #privatepolicingmeans https://ucpd-reform.squarespace.com/interviews/

The UCPD enforce @UChicago’s vision of a gentrified, segragated Hyde Park through their stops of non-white community members #showmeyourUCID

The UCPD is the primary police force for over 65,000 people most of whom are not affiliated with the university #showmeyourucid

The UCPD makes Black students feel like they don’t belong on campus #showmeyourucid


<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<    ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

	<<<    THE PROBLEM    >>>

The University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) serves as the primary police force for over 65,000 people, the majority of whom are not affiliated with the University. Their jurisdiction is the largest of any private police force in the country, covering over 6.5 square miles. They possess and exercise full police powers over this jurisdiction, including the right to stop, question, and arrest those they deem suspicious.

Despite their public power, the UCPD is not held to public standards of accountability.

As a privately owned force, the UCPD is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)--a critical tool for civil rights advocates to keep public institutions accountable to those they serve. Unlike public police forces, which can be compelled to release essential data, the UCPD refuses to make public any of their records on the race of those they stop and search. Without this information it is impossible to asses whether a police department is racially profiling.

This has serious consequences.

Our campaign was founded because of the stories we heard from our members, friends, classmates, and fellow South Siders about UCPD harassment. Their experiences made clear that in the absence of meaningful oversight, racial profiling occurs with impunity. Given their full public police powers, the UCPD must adhere to city standards of accountability. Releasing  records of the stops their officers commit is the first step in achieving this.


	<<< WHAT THE CAMPAIGN IS DOING >>>

We are a group of South Siders who are building a movement to end racial profiling in the University of Chicago's private police force. Our group, a campaign of the Southside Solidarity Network, uses a combination of educational events and direct action techniques to raise awareness about issues of race, privatization, and the police. In the past this has included hosting a hearing on UCPD profiling as well as two Speak Outs where students and community members shared their experiences with officer abuse, receiving over 800 signatures on a petition calling for UCPD accountability, leading a march to deliver it to their headquarters, and sharing over twenty stories of UCPD mistreatment at the department's accreditation hearing.


	<<<    IN THE NEWS   >>>

"Editorial: Private Interests, Public Powers," Chicago Maroon (6/3/14)
http://chicagomaroon.com/2014/06/03/private-interests-public-powers/

"A Wall Around Hyde Park: The History and Future of the UCPD," The Gate Magazine (6/2/2014)
http://uchicagogate.com/2014/06/02/a-wall-around-hyde-park/

"UCPD Ends Trauma Center Sit-In," Chicago Maroon (5/20/14)
http://chicagomaroon.com/2014/05/20/ucpd-ends-trauma-center-sit-in/

"UCPD Review Gives Locals and Students a Chance to Vent," Hyde Park Herald (4/9/14)
http://hpherald.com/2014/04/09/ucpd-review-gives-locals-and-students-a-chance-to-vent/