#NoCopAcademy is a campaign that is supported by various community organizations in Chicago. The #NoCopAcademy organization aims to prevent Rahm Emanuel from spending 95 million dollars on Chicago police, first responders, and firefighters, and to instead put that money towards the future of our communities such as schools, health clinics, transportation, etc.

The city of Chicago spends about 1.5 billion dollars a year on the Chicago Police Department, which is about 4 million dollars a day. Chicago spends more money on its police than any of its other departments. Rahm Emanuel wants to open the academy in hopes of adding a thousand new cops over the course of two years. These new cops will replace the ones who are known for their misconduct and use of excessive force. These newly trained officers will have up-to-date training procedures, unlike the ones that are currently in use.

The new development is arising mixed emotions amongst Chicagoans because of the increasing amounts of police misconduct and brutality that has been occurring throughout our country. Chicago residents are also opposed to this development due to the fact that fifty schools were closed in 2013. Six of these schools were located in Garfield Park, where the academy is set to be located. Many of the Chicago residents speaking up about this development are the youth of today who are directly being affected by the change. Some of the residents feel as if Rahm would rather support cops with resources rather than Chicago Public Schools.

–Josephine Sulls