CPD Consent Decree... Say What?

Consent Decree…The History

The historical facts that led to the implementation of the Chicago Police Department Consent Decree include the long-standing issues of police misconduct and brutality, as well as the lack of accountability and transparency in the Chicago Police Department. The Department of Justice launched an investigation of the Chicago Police Department following the release of a video showing Officer Jason Van Dyke fatally shooting Laquan McDonald 16 times in 2014, which triggered a momentous police reform effort that spawned a scathing Justice Department report and an extensive consent decree and for the first time added community members directly into Chicago police oversight.

In November 2015, the court-ordered release of video of the white officer shooting the black teenager 16 times set off weeks of street protests rooted in long-standing anger among African-American residents and their allies over treatment by police, and political momentum built for police reform.

The video led to an Obama administration Justice Department investigation of the Police Department that ended with a January 2017 report describing Chicago’s police force as badly trained, largely unaccountable and had a pattern and practice of using excessive force, especially against minorities. The final report of the investigation was released in 2017, after which the city of Chicago and the Illinois attorney general's office came to an agreement that a consent decree was necessary to address the issues raised in the report. Rahm Emanuel wavered as to the need for court oversight of his police department, but he committed to a consent decree after Mike Madigan sued him in August 2017 to force one, and activist groups also sued the city.

The Mayor, CPD leadership and members, and other City departments with police accountability responsibility are committed to a complete implementation of the consent decree, and will dedicate necessary resources and personnel to achieve full and effective compliance with the extensive reforms it requires. As part of the 2020 budget, the City allocated approximately $25.5 million towards consent decree and police reform efforts.

A consent decree is a court-approved settlement that resolves a legal dispute between parties. This consent decree requires the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and the City of Chicago (the City) to reform training, policies, and practices in a number of important areas, such as use of force, community policing, impartial policing, training, accountability, officer wellness, data and information systems, and more. The goal is to ensure that the CPD performs constitutional and effective policing that keeps both community members and officers safe, and restores the community’s trust in the CPD.

Federal Judge Robert M. Dow, Jr. was assigned to oversee the consent decree Jan 31, 2019. He then appointed the Independent Monitor, who will oversee the work of the Independent Monitoring Team. The Independent Monitoring Team will assess the CPD’s and the City’s compliance with the consent decree. The consent decree will be in effect for at least five years so that the CPD can develop, implement, and sustain the training, policies, and practices that the consent decree requires.

Consent Decree Areas:

• Community Policing

• Impartial Policing

• Crisis Intervention

• Use of Force

• Recruitment, Hiring, and Promotion

• Training

• Supervision

• Officer Wellness and Support

• Accountability and Transparency

• Data Collection, Analysis, and Management

• Implementation, Enforcement, and Monitoring

Community Policing

The District Councils and the Community Commission on Public Safety and Accountability have broad oversight of the police department. These entities were created by the 2021 Empowering Communities for Public Safety ordinance, which the City Council passed in 2021 after years of community organizing with the end result of creating a new model for police oversight, accountability, and public safety. The CCPSA has the power to advance systemic reforms.

The CCPSA and the District Councils will bring police officers and Chicago residents together to plan, prioritize, and build mutual trust; strengthen the police accountability system; give Chicagoans a meaningful new role in oversight; and explore and advance alternative effective approaches to public safety.

There are 66 council seats; three in each of Chicago’s 22 police districts. Each council is made up of a chairperson, a community engagement coordinator, and a member of the citywide committee that nominates CCPSA members. Council members are elected to four-year terms beginning in 2023. They must live in the district and cannot have been a member of the Chicago Police Department, Independent Police Review Authority, Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA), or the Police Board for at least three years before they assume office. If there is a vacancy on one of the councils, its members will submit three names to the CCPSA, which recommends one to the mayor for an appointment. Anyone who serves on the CCPSA must first have the support of elected District Council members. Anyone can participate in District Council work with the goal being the more people who participate, the more effective the District Councils can be.

District Council’s Responsibilities

Community interaction and support

The police district councils are required to hold monthly meetings to discuss policing issues. They inform the community about the work the district councils and the Commission are doing, and gather input from the public about public safety and policing in their communities. They’re required to assist the public with such issues and help community members request information about investigations from the police department and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA), resulting in stronger connections between the police and the community.

Police interaction and oversight

Police district councils work with district commanders and community members to develop and implement community policing initiatives, and the councils are specifically tasked with developing and expanding restorative justice and similar programs. They’re required to encourage police officers to help the community access resources, and they provide information to police about their work and the Commission’s work. last but not least, the council is tasked with working with the community to get input on police department policies and practices.

CCPSA input

Beginning in 2023, district councils will be able to nominate 14 candidates to the CCPSA, and the mayor will be required to select seven from that list (the City Council nominated 14 candidates to the current interim Commission in 2022).

The police district councils will send one member to quarterly and annual meetings with delegates from all 22 councils. Councils may report their findings and make policy recommendations to the CCPSA.

The ultimate goal, is that the Commission’s work will be based on what people in neighborhoods across the city are concerned about.

CCPSA responsibilities

Hiring and Firing Public Safety Administrators

When there is a vacancy of the police superintendent, Police Board members, or the COPA chief administrator, the CCPSA sends a list of candidates to the mayor, who selects one whom the City Council confirms.

The Commission is responsible for hiring COPA’s chief administrator (whom the City Council confirms) and can fire them for cause.

At the beginning of the year, the Commission sets goals for the police superintendent and the department, COPA’s chief administrator, the Police Board and its president. At the end of the year, the Commission will evaluate their performance.

The Commission can hold hearings about the police superintendent and members of the Police Board, and take a vote of no confidence in them, which would require the City Council to hold hearings and a vote, as well as a public response from the mayor.

Police Department Policy Oversight

General orders for CPD can be drafted by the department or the Commission, but they require a majority vote by the Commission to become policy. The Commission will post draft policies on its website and invite public comment. The police department is still under a federal consent decree, and policies that are covered by it can’t be set by the Commission. The mayor can veto policies enacted by the Commission, and the City Council can override the veto by a two-thirds majority vote.

The Commission works with the police department on community policing programs and recommends solutions to violence that are preventative, community-based, and include non-policing alternatives.

The Commission can make recommendations about what the Public Safety Inspector General should audit. It also reviews the police department budget and can recommend changes to it before the City Council votes on it.

If the police department and Commission disagree on a policy, there is a process to resolve differences and build consensus between them.

Community Engagement and Transparency

The CCPSA must hold monthly meetings. It conducts outreach on relations between community and police; department policies and practices; and the department’s accountability system. The Commission can publish reports on matters of community concern, and it can require the police superintendent to answer questions in public and provide reports to the Commission.

The Commission will appoint an advisory council, made up of Chicago residents.

Links:

Independent Monitor

City of Chicago

NPR.org