CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Community activists and elected officials are calling for more information about a Cook County gang database that is supposed to be “decommissioned.”WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports from the Loop.A vote has been delayed on conducting a study of Cook County’s controversial gang database, which the Cook County Sheriff’s Office plans to shut down.
Backed by several community groups, Lawyer Sheila Bedi of Northwestern’s MacArthur Justice Center said the public needs to know how that database was used.
She said these databases are shared among law enforcement agencies and can affect people's lives.Community worker Jesus Salazar said he’s still on a list even though he left gang activity behind years ago. He said he still gets stopped at gunpoint by police.
And he knows young people in the database who have never been gang-involved.
Lawyers are filing a Freedom of Information Act request.