The Bitter Controversy Over Chicago’s Newest Police Academy
Rahm Emanuel wants to build the project in the city’s poorest neighborhood — where Laquan McDonald was raised
On a raw, rainy March morning in Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel stood on the dais of the city council chambers, looking out over the aldermen who had just voted to build one of his most cherished projects: an $85 million police and fire training academy on the West Side, the most blighted, violent quarter of the city. Emanuel proudly announced the tally — 38 ayes, eight nays — and tried to begin a victory speech: “Before we go on, I’d like to say a few words about this item,” he told the crowd, before he was suddenly interrupted.
“Mic check! Mic check!” shouted a group of protestors standing in the public gallery. “Dear Rahm Emanuel, our community is not for sale! Since you lack remorse, we will lack peace. No cop academy. $95 million for community!” (The cost of the project was previously listed at $95 million, though it has since dropped to $85 million.)
Outside, in the lobby, hundreds more demonstrators who had been denied entry by the police were chanting, “Let us in! Let us in!” Their voices were loud enough for the aldermen to hear. Once the most strident demonstrators had been hustled out of council chambers…
