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Chicago Clergy Push For List Of Police Reforms

CHICAGO (CBS) -- As the Department of Justice continues its investigation of the Chicago Police Department, dozens of area clergy members are adding their voices to the calls for change.

As CBS 2's Mai Martinez reports, the group, called Chicago Clergy Coalition For Police Accountability, took their fight to police headquarters on Tuesday.

"There is no contradiction between supporting the police and then also holding the police accountable," said Pastor Marshall Hatch.

"We are not anti-police," said Ira Acree. "We are anti-police violence."

The first recommendation calls for the de-certification of bad officers.

"They must not have the ability to move to other jurisdictions and police with the same bad habits and attitudes," said Rev Lindsey Long Joyce, of St. John's Methodist Church

Other recommendations include:

Mental health reviews of officers, including random pyschological evaluations.

Whistleblower protection; and

Dismantling the Independent Police Review Authority, something Mayor Emanuel says he plans to do.

Pastor Marshall E. Hatch: "There is no real independent investigation of allegations of police misconduct."

Deputy Police Chief John Escalante said, "We are committed to taking those reforms that are necessary to make us a better department."

Chicago Clergy Coalition For Police Accountability

One recommendation, a call for officers to stop shooting suspects in the back, will be hard to implement, Escalante said.

"If you're being shot at and you know that person is armed with a weapon and libel to shoot somebody else, we'll never, I think, be able to issue I think a blanket ordinance that says you can't shoot somebody in the back period," Escalante said.

Supt. Johnson is out of town at a conference in Washington, but a department spokesperson says Johnson called the group this morning and he and command staff will meet with them next week.

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