BrownTown breaks down the relationship between police abolition and state-sanctioned police accountability measures with newly elected Police District Councilors David Orlikoff and Ashley Vargas. The guests square their PIC abolitionist organizing roots with the new accountability structure, Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA), for the Chicago Police Department. Three years after the first installment in the midst of the 2020 uprisings, BrownTown and the organizers-turned-electeds re-contextualize the path to abolition with the paradoxes, nuances, benefits, and challenges of this new structure on the foreground of the decades-long demand for community control over the police. Originally recorded June 19, 2023.

Full Transcripts Here!

GUESTS
David is a grassroots organizer from Chicago who moved to the Northwest side 10 years ago. He was the Defund CPD Outreach Lead for the 35th Ward, where they received over 2,500 petition signatures and 71 group endorsements to reduce CPD's budget by 75% and reinvest in solutions that provide the care our communities need. He became very involved in organizing during college with Occupy Chicago, marching against the banks that stole millions of families' homes and then got huge handouts while people suffered.

Ashley was born and raised in Logan Square. She is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and the youngest of 5 children. She ran and won as a write-in candidate for the 14th District Police District Council. She began to get involved in her community during high school, organizing for immigrant rights and affordable housing. Now, she has worked in successful grassroots campaigns and plans to continue her work of liberating marginalized people. Follow David on Ashley on Instagram.

Topics Mentioned and Glossary

• The youth are on fire by Jim Daley (Chicago Reader)
• Progressive primary winner loses Buffalo New York Mayorship to write-in (AP)
• LAPD Officers’ Union Lists 28 Calls for Service That Someone Else Can Handle (Los Angeles Magazine)
• Abolition resources in the 1.0 description
• Terms
  • OPS = Office of Professional Standards which turned into IPRA = Independent Police Review Authority which turned into the present-day COPA = Civilian Office of Police Accountability
  • CAARPR = Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
  • CPAC = Civilian Police Accountability Council
  • GAPA = Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability
  • ECPS = Empower Communities for Public Safety (which turned into...)
  • CCPSA = Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability
  • BIA = Bureau of Interval Affairs
  • SAFE-T Act

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CREDITS: Intro soundbite from Police District Council swearing in and outro music from BnB alum Fiendish. Episode photo by Darius Griffin of The TRiiBE. Audio engineered by Kiera Battles.

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