It has been announced today that Dante Servin has chosen to resign from the Chicago Police Department instead of facing an evidentiary hearing for the 2012 killing of Rekia Boyd. While this serves as a relief for the sake of both Rekia Boyd’s family and the larger Chicago community, it is also indicative of an unsurprising tactic by Servin to escape accountability.

The recent success of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit demanding the release of the Chicago Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) investigative files on Dante Servin is further evidence of this movement’s commitment to ensure police accountability. We understand that genuine civilian control of policing includes a demand for public transparency and access to information in all cases of police killings.

The upsetting and understated reality is that Black cis and trans women, girls, and femmes are still being victimized by state violence in Chicago and nationwide. The fact still remains that sexual assault is the second most reported form of police misconduct – which is disproportionately experienced by women, girls, and femmes – while excessive force is the first. Furthermore, resignation allows Servin to take up employment as a police officer in any other city or town, which still puts Black people in danger and subjects us to police violence and control. Likewise, resignation creates space for police like Servin to leave with dignity – something Servin does not deserve since he snatched Rekia’s ability to live in her full dignity. This is why police officers that murder, like Dante Servin, should not only be fired, but should have their pensions taken away as a part of accountability for their misconduct.

Read the full statement at BYP100.org.

Author

  • Jenn M. Jackson was born and raised in East Oakland, California, a fact which motivates her writing and academic ambitions. She is a scholar, educator, and writer whose writing addresses Black Politics and civil and public life for young Black people with a focus on policing and surveillance. She is also the Editor-in-Chief of Water Cooler Convos, a culture platform for Black millennials. Her writing has been featured in Washington Post, BITCH Magazine, Marie Claire, EBONY, The Root, Daily Dot, The Independent, and many others. Jackson is a doctoral candidate at the University of Chicago studying American Politics with a focus on political participation and engagement, public opinion and social movements. For more about her, tweet her at @JennMJack or visit her website at jennmjackson.com.