Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Friday, October 28, 2016. Have a great weekend, and go Cubs!
OpenOversight allows civilians to match police names and badge numbers with their photos
Web developers at Chicago-based Lucy Parsons Labs are trying to make it easier for civilians file misconduct complaints against Chicago police officers with a new tool, OpenOversight. (Disclosure: the Reader collaborated with Lucy Parsons Labs on our recent investigation into CPD’s secret budget.) The goal of OpenOversight is to match police officers’ names and badge numbers with their pictures. “We talked to people who had been victims of [police] abuse and had gone to file a complaint but were told ‘If you don’t know the badge number and name, nothing is going to happen,'” the program’s lead developer, Jennifer Helsby, told CityLab. The police are worried that the tool will put their personal safety at risk. “You put someone’s name out there, then now he’s driving with his kids or to his school, and now you’ve got him more easily identified and you put him and his family at risk,” says Chicago Fraternal Order of Police president Dean Angelo. [CityLab]
