Several community groups have sued the city of Chicago to bypass or even scuttle a draft deal between Chicago and the Justice Department that seeks to reform the nation's second largest police force without federal court oversight.
The filing in Chicago federal court argues that any Chicago Police Department overhaul in the wake of a damning civil rights report can't work without the intense scrutiny of a court-appointed monitor answerable to a judge.
The lawsuit says that with "absent federal court supervision, nothing will improve."
Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration says the Justice Department is reviewing a draft police-reform deal that calls for a monitor, though not a court-selected one.
A Justice Department report in January found deep-rooted problems with Chicago police.
