Tired of being picked on by the Chicago Police Department, residents in a South Side public housing complex filed a lawsuit against the department. They also asked a well-known clergy leader to spend a night in their shoes to get a taste" of their reality.
A long-time resident of the Chicago Housing Authority's Harold Ickes Homes said the police storm in apartments without search warrants and conduct searches on residents and their guests who go in and out of their buildings.
Gloria Williams, an Ickes resident and president of the local advisory council, said the residents are living in fear. The council wants Rev. Jesse Jackson to spend a night in the housing complex to shed light on the problem.
"Those police should be relieved of their duty, never to come here again with a badge and a gun. It should not happen," Jackson, president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition said at a news conference Friday outside of the housing project.
Jackson and Revs. Gregory Livingston and Ira Acree will stay overnight at the housing complex next week in efforts to cease the alleged harassment by the police. The Ickes, which opened in 1955, is on South State Street between Cermak and 25th Sreet.
Rainbow/PUSH has joined the class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of the public housing residents against the police.
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Tamara Holder, attorney for the residents, said, "The police officers are telling these people that because they live on public housing or in public housing, and the police are the government, that they can enter their homes or search them at any time. People who live in public housing do not have any lesser rights than those who do not."
"No one hears us; no one comes down here to talk to us. Don't get me wrong, some people deserve to be stopped, but the police "are harassing people too much. They need to do something about that," Williams told the Defender.
A teen who lives in the Ickes said he is constantly harassed by the police and fears that one day, he'll end up with a record for no reason. He has been "lucky" so far that none of his contact with the police has resulted in him becoming a part of the system.
"I don't have a criminal history and everyone knows it, even the police. They throw me up against the wall and they take my money. I had $50 one time and I almost didn't get it back," Duane Logan told the Defender.
The 16-year-old is a parent of a toddler and said that his mother gives him an allowance, the reason that he has more than the usual amount of money on him sometimes.
"When they find my money, they'll take it and ask why I have it and where did I get it. If there are two cops that are on me, usually one of them will make sure that I get the money back," Logan said.
Logan also said that 6 p.m. is known at the Ickes Homes as "curfew time."
"Everyday at 6, whomever is outside knows that it's time to go in. The cops ride past at that time each day and if someone is out there, just sitting on the benches in front of their building, they'll start harassing them for no reason," he added.
Williams said the alleged police brutality is not the only concern of the angry residents. She said their safety is also compromised.
"We have a homeless problem in the buildings. It's hard to tell who is traveling among our kids - rapists, murderers. People sleep in the hallways and in the lobby. You could open your door one morning and someone could be sleeping in front of your door," she said.
A state representative who grew up in public housing is disgusted by the way the CHA has managed their properties over the last decade.
"I'm surprised they are not on top of their game. I'm from Cabrini-Green. When I was growing up, we didn't know what our socio-economic status was. We had so many activities and so much love, we had everything going on. We were happy. They [CHA] need to get back on their game or contract it out to someone else who can do it," state Rep. Ken Dunkin (D-5th) told the Defender.
"The kids have no recreation because everything is closed up. When they get out of school, they have no choice but to come into ...
[Sidebar]
"No one hears us; no one comes down here to talk to us. Don't get me wrong, some people deserve to be stopped, but the police are harassing people too much. They need to do something about that." -Gloria Williams
[Author Affiliation]
Kathy Chaney
Defernder Staff Reporter
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