Untitled Document
A SOBERINGTASC
African-Americans were nine times more likely than
whites to go to prison in Illinois in 2005. Logic dictates, then, that
black people do way more bad stuff than white people, right?
Of course not — don’t be silly. Prisons in Illinois and elsewhere are bursting at the
seams with nonviolent drug users. Although there’s no discernible
difference in the rates of substance abuse among racial groups, minorities
are far more likely to be arrested and sent to prison than whites. This
discrepancy is a result of unfair government policies, says Pam Rodriguez, executive vice
president of the group Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities. “In some ways, I think we’re immune to
the impact that those statistics represent,” Rodriguez says. TASC has
requested a $10 million budget appropriation to study racial disparities in
Illinois drug laws. State Sen. Mattie Hunter, a Windy City Democrat, has introduced the legislation.
“We should treat these people. Families are being decimated because
of these archaic laws that we have on the books,” says state Sen. Donne Trotter, D-Chicago, who
also supports the initiative.
WHEREHAVEWEHEARDTHISBEFORE? Cops complaining that their stationhouse is a
“coercive” and “hostile” work environment blame a
relatively new assistant chief. They complain to members of the city
council, to the media, and to consultants brought in to solve the morale
problem, and, when they take a vote to measure confidence, 78 percent of
the badgers say they have no faith in the assistant chief. Who is it? Barbara
Harris, wife of John
Harris, Springfield’s chief of police
from 1995 through April 2003. “Blahbara,” as her troops have
tagged her, became assistant chief of police in Marana, Ariz., a small
suburb of Tucson, in November 2006 and apparently PO’ed police
officers by hiring a friend as a highly paid consultant, moving detectives
into cubicles so she could take over their locked office space, and firing
two longtime employees, who were later reinstated by the unanimous vote of
a review board. On March 5, some 30 officers, their families, and
their union rep appeared at the Marana Town Council meeting to ask for the
removal of Harris and the top chief, according to the Arizona Daily Star. A few days
later, Harris was put on paid administrative leave, “pending an
internal investigation” that has nothing whatsoever to do with the
patrol union’s complaints.
FLYAWAY, LITTLEBIRDWHISPERER They’re always innocent until proven guilty. Or
are they? Ward 8 Ald. Kris Theilen says he’s been waiting since January for
vindication in the case against the “bird whisperer,” and it
seems he’s now gotten his shot. Springfield Police Chief Ralph Caldwell told aldermen on
Tuesday that there is probable cause to believe that the 85-year-old James Soules has
discharged a .22-caliber rifle downtown within the past three months. Even though Soules has not yet been charged with the
crime, the finance committee of the City Council voted to send an ordinance
terminating his $164,000 contract to next week’s
no-further-discussion-needed consent agenda. That’s quite the turnaround for Theilen, who
was unable to convince his fellow aldermen of Soules’ wrongdoing
three months ago. “I feel that it’s open and shut,”
Theilen says. “I think the facts speak for themselves.”
WHATHOUSINGCRISIS? On Saturday, April 12, TSP-Hope Inc., with the help
of the Springfield Financial Institution’s CRA Council, the Capital
Area Association of Realtors, the Association of Mortgage Professionals,
and the Homeownership Coalition for People with Disabilities, will host a
free seminar on credit and budgeting skills. The group will sponsor a second free seminar on
homebuyer education on Saturday, April 19. Both events will run from 9 a.m. to noon at TSP-Hope
headquarters, 1507 E. Cook St. Call 217-206-7690 to sign up.
This article appears in Apr 10-16, 2008.
