CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- In response to the outcry over police brutality, the U.S. Conference of Mayors has launched a new police reform and racial justice working group.
According to CBS News, the group will devise a set of guidelines to address police violence and patterns of racial discrimination, which will not include defunding or disbanding police departments.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the former head of the Chicago Police Board, is one of the mayors spearheading this initiative. In an interview with Elaine Quijano for the CBSN special, "Red & Blue: State of Our Union," Lightfoot said "we've got to be bold" when it comes to police reform, noting the unique circumstances.
"I think mayors across the country, particularly in this time, we have a moment where we can really change for the good, the narrative around accountability and legitimacy and policing," Lightfoot said. "And we need to seize this moment and move forward aggressively and not be timid. We've got to be bold."
Lightfoot said she knows "it's not going to be easy" to get police unions invested in the idea of reform — but said now is the time to try.
"I don't know that we are going to be able to get every union on board with this because they do resist reform…" she said. "But I think this outcry that we're seeing across the country, and particularly in major cities that have police departments that have a checkered history, this is our moment to get something done. This is our moment to make sure that state legislators and local officials really rise to the occasion, not just with record rhetoric, but with actions. And I think we got that ground swell and we channel it to get done the kind of reforms that seemed impossible even two months ago. Let's take advantage of this moment."
She told CBS News accountability, licensing police officers, and reforming union contracts are major items of discussion.
"Every state has a series of regulatory system schemes for barbers, for manicurists. We know how to regulate industries," she said. "And what we're looking at is setting a baseline of criteria, training requirements there on a regular basis — a threshold around discipline issues so that an officer has to meet those criteria in order to be a peace officer anywhere in the state. This is not difficult. It's just been resisted by police unions...
"We need to have that, I think, for the public to really have confidence that we're serious around reform and accountability," she added. "And the other thing is there's gotta be a process for just certifying officers."
Lightfoot brought up former police commander Jon Burge, who tortured people and went to prison for perjury. He cost the city hundreds of millions, she said, yet continued to get a pension until he died. She added that she's seen examples of officers who have served time for corruption who still have their pensions.
"That can't be a thing that continues," she said. "That's an affront to all of our values. And it's an affront to taxpayers, who are footing the bill for these people who are convicted criminals, arising out of their jobs as police officers. So there's, I think, a lot more that we need to bring to the table when we talk about this licensing issue. And we've got to break through the stranglehold that police unions have had on reform."