Hundreds Protest Meeting Of Police Chiefs At McCormick Place
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The International Association of Chiefs of Police is meeting at McCormick Place, and was the focus of a protest by several hundred people from police headquarters to the convention site.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to hire 300 more police officers and spend $200 million more on the police department as a whole.
Protester Maria Hadden of the Black Youth Project on Saturday said the money could be better spent elsewhere.
"To provide better education, to provide access to basic human needs, housing and healthcare, those are the ways that we address crime," Hadden said. "Those are the ways we improve the city, not by spending more money on police so we believe we need to spend less money on policing, more money on community services."
The protesters want an elected police accountability board locally.
"We feel that the voices of community members to be involved in reforms for police," said Hadden. "We want community control over policing and we also want to send the message loud and clear to the International Association of Chiefs of Police as they're a body that's powerful and responsible for setting these best practices and policies around the world for policing that we want community voices at the table."
Chicago police later reported more than 60 people were arrested near McCormick Place. They face misdemeanor charges of obstructing traffic.