Fairley: We Need To Bestow Powers On Individuals Who Deserve Them
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The former head of Chicago's police accountability agency says she is troubled by the latest reports of Chicago police officers being accused of robbing drug dealers.
WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports.
Sharon Fairley was head of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability before she quit to run for Illinois Attorney General.
She calls the reports of police shaking down drug dealers very disappointing.
Because police powers, she says, are the most serious powers society can bestow upon someone.
"Because they have the power to take lives and to take liberty," says Fairley. "And as a community we need to feel confident that we are bestowing these powers on individuals who deserve to hold them and who have the skills and the talent and the integrity to exercise them in a way that we as a community feel comfortable with."
Fairley is outlining proposals for better training, higher standards for police certification and better oversight.