Grounding Police Accountability in Community Engagement

Thursday, September 19, 2024 • 1:00 PM EST

Our September panel discusses the importance of anchoring police accountability initiatives in community engagement. Our webinar features diverse perspectives from experts with a wide range of professional and lived experience in this issue. Joining our discussion are: 

  • Former Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan; 

  • Samuel Sinyangwe, Founder, Mapping Police Violence; 

  • Victoria Davis, Founder, Sisters of Justice; 

  • Jonathan Darche, Executive Director, NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board;

  • Caroline Nobo, Research Scholar in Law, Executive Director, Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School; and

Moderator, Rachel Marshall, IIP Executive Director.

Community members play a pivotal role in police accountability work and are critical to the success of police oversight initiatives implemented by state attorneys general and local prosecutors. Building upon the IIP’s recent webinar, Not Above the Law: Prosecuting Police Misconduct, our upcoming webinar highlights findings of the IIP’s recent publication series as part of our State Attorneys General Police Oversight and Accountability Network project. This webinar will provide tools and strategies for prosecutors and attorneys general to use in effectively engaging communities in police accountability work.

Our webinar leverages the incredible experience of our panelists, including former Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who spearheaded the historic consent decree with the Chicago Police Department, to advise state attorneys general and local prosecutors on implementing successful police accountability initiatives that meaningfully engage their communities. 

Victoria Davis

Founder, Sisters of Justice

On July 4, 2016, NYPD officer Wayne Isaacs shot and killed Delrawn Small while Small was driving his girlfriend, teenage stepdaughter, and 4-month-old child home from a family gathering. Delrawn had been driving down Atlantic Avenue when he was cut off by Isaacs, who continued to drive in a reckless manner. At a stop light, Delrawn stepped out of his car to tell Isaacs that his driving was endangering others on the road. Isaacs, who was off-duty and in his personal vehicle at the time, rolled down his car window and shot Delrawn three times. Afterwards, Isaacs left Delrawn to bleed to death on the street, offering no emergency aid and only dialing 911 to claim he had been the one attacked. Although Isaacs was charged and prosecuted for murder by the Attorney General, he was ultimately acquitted at trial. In 2020, the Civilian Complaint Review Board substantiated charges against Isaacs, beginning the process to hold a disciplinary hearing.

Although Delrawn’s death was the impetus behind founding Sisters of Justice, an organization operated exclusively by former foster youth and their children, Victoria’s advocacy extends beyond continuing the legacy of her brother, highlighting the systemic issues and racial bias that drive police killings. Victoria aims to empower communities to police themselves by fostering relationships between communities, organizations, policymakers, and directly impacted persons. 

Jonathan Darche

Executive Director, NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board

Jonathan Darche was appointed Executive Director for the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) in May 2017. Prior to joining the CCRB, Jon worked as an Assistant District Attorney at the Queens County District Attorney's Office. He began his career in public service working as a staffer for New York's Senior Senator Chuck Schumer. He now lives in Astoria with his wife, Samantha, and their ten year old son.

Caroline Nobo

Research Scholar in Law, Executive Director, Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School

Caroline Nobo is a Research Scholar in Law and Executive Director of the Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School, where she provides strategic direction and leadership to the Justice Collaboratory’s unique network of interdisciplinary scholars and staff. Her research as a criminologist focuses on promoting trust and legitimacy in the criminal legal system. Her expertise includes procedural justice, policing, gun violence, data systems, community-based research methodologies, and the progressive prosecutor movement.

Nobo is the co-author of the 2023 book Legitimacy-Based Policing and the Promotion of Community Vitality. She is often featured translating research into policy for global audiences and lectures at universities across the world. Caroline sits on the board for a Connecticut non-profit serving incarcerated parents and their children (CLICC). Prior to joining Yale, Nobo was the Director of Data Outreach for the non-profit Measures for Justice (MFJ), and a senior researcher at Abt Associates. Nobo holds a Master in Science in Criminology from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in Sociology from Mount Holyoke College.

Rachel Marshall

Executive Director, Institute for Innovation in Prosecution at John Jay College

Lisa Madigan

Former Illinois Attorney General

Lisa Madigan is a litigation partner in the Chicago office, with a broad practice focused on state and federal level investigations and regulatory work, internal investigations, crisis management and litigation. She has more than 25 years of experience handling a range of issues including consumer protection, data security and privacy, health care, the environment, and sexual assault and harassment.

Lisa joined Kirkland in 2019 after a distinguished career in public service. She was the first female Attorney General in Illinois and held the post for 16 years, becoming the longest serving Attorney General in the state’s history. Recognized for her integrity, Lisa established a national reputation as an influential advocate and reformer during her tenure as Attorney General. She professionalized the office, increased enforcement, and generated more than $14 billion for the state, including nearly $4 billion for Illinois homeowners, communities and pension funds to recover from financial fraud and discriminatory lending at the heart of the mortgage crisis.

Lisa had more than 150 bills signed into law while Attorney General. Under her leadership, the Consumer Protection Division established a national reputation for safeguarding consumers from financial fraud and discrimination. She also served as a lead negotiator in the National Mortgage Settlement with some of the nation’s largest banks.

She has made protecting children and women from violence a priority, and reformed the Illinois criminal justice system to prevent and respond to sexual assault and domestic violence including requiring response standards on college campuses and hospital emergency rooms. She also worked to effect important systemic reform of the Chicago Police Department. Lisa was the first Illinois Attorney General in over 25 years to personally argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, Illinois v. Caballes, in which the Supreme Court upheld the ability of law enforcement to detect the presence of illegal drugs during traffic stops.

On the national level, Lisa has frequently testified before Congress and federal commissions and served in appointed roles with the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of State.

Prior to her election as Illinois Attorney General, Lisa served as an Illinois State Senator, a litigator, an assistant dean, and volunteer teacher in South Africa during apartheid. She is also a lecturer in law at the University of Chicago Law School.

Sam Sinyangwe

Founder, Mapping Police Violence

Samuel Sinyangwe is a data scientist who built Mapping Police Violence and the Police Scorecard to support activists across the country to collect and use data to fight police violence. He also co-founded Campaign Zero to advocate for local, state, and federal policy solutions to end police violence. Mr. Sinyangwe has been featured on MSNBC, CNN, BBC, LA Times, the Forbes 30 under 30 and The Root 100. Previously, he worked at PolicyLink to support a national network of 61 Promise Neighborhoods communities to build cradle-to-career systems of support for low-income families. Mr. Sinyangwe grew up in Orlando, FL and graduated from Stanford University in 2012, where he studied how race and racism impact the U.S. political system.. 

Rachel Marshall is the Executive Director of the Institute for Innovation in Prosecution.

Rachel previously served as the Director of Communications and Policy Advisor at the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, following nearly a decade working as a public defender in Alameda County, California.  Rachel has extensive expertise in the criminal legal system and efforts to reform it, as well as experience in media, policy, and advocacy.

Rachel graduated from Stanford Law School and Brown University.  After law school, she clerked for federal District Court Judge David O. Carter in the Central District of California.  Prior to law school, she taught high school history for three years in the Bronx