[remote or in person] Committee on Police and Fire

Chicago City Council
Politics

Monday, Feb. 5, 2024
11:00 a.m. — 2:00 p.m. CST

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121 N LaSalle St Chicago, IL 60602 (Directions)

Chicago City Hall, 2nd floor, Council Chambers

You have the option of documenting this meeting in person or remotely.

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At this link, scroll down to “Meeting Notices.” Look for “Watch now” and click on the link with the meeting title to go to a livestream page.

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Reporting

Edited and summarized by the Chicago - IL Documenters Team

Live reporting by Chris Ridgeway

The Chicago Police Department may undergo a formal staffing analysis.

Chris Ridgeway
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 2/37
@CHIdocumenters The agenda for this meeting can be found here. The agenda includes an ordinance proposal from Ald. @MattMartinChi to study police deployment: what neighborhoods and when officers are deployed …storagev1.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/meetingattachm…
…storagev1.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/meetingattachm…
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 3/37
University of Chicago Crime Lab has called Chicago’s police allocation “highly political and unequal.” @wttw 's @HeatherCherone has an excellent summary here so you can read up: news.wttw.com/2024/02/05/cit…
news.wttw.com/2024/02/05/cit…
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 4/37
@wttw @HeatherCherone Documenting in-person today, and it’s pretty normal for a committee meeting that nobody is here yet except @jus10chi reporting for Crain’s, and perennial commenter George Blakemore who has started raising his voice a bit and talking to a nearly empty chamber
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 5/37
@wttw @HeatherCherone @jus10chi Scheduled to begin at 11a but alders are still rolling in. Chairman Taliaferro at the front with staff.
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 6/37
@wttw @jus10chi Ok, committee meeting on Police & Fire coming to order at 11:14a. Calling roll
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 7/37
@wttw @jus10chi Beginning with public comment, first commenter concerned about police “immunity,” and the about “illegals.” Second public comment, “We are treating Illegal immigrants better than people in our city”
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 8/37
@wttw @jus10chi Public speaker Garcia identifies as member of police district council for the 19th district. Reading a letter from council in support of police work allocation study, which is the first item for vote today.
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 9/37
@wttw @jus10chi Public speaker Loren Jones from Impact for Equity: “CPD has only reached 6% of progress towards the consent degree” “…has no uniform plan for effective collaboration with police district counselors”
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 10/37
@wttw @jus10chi Agenda first up: Item 1 O2023-0006424 - Amendment of Municipal Code Chapter 2-84 by adding new Section 2-84-050 establishing comprehensive staffing analysis for Department of Police (offered by @AldMattMartin - not present, he is not on this committee)
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 11/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin But Chair says they will call that second, and start with: Item 2 Subject Matter Hearing regarding the Independent Monitoring Report for 1/1/23-6/30/23: Eight Semi-Annual Independent Monitoring Report and Comprehensive Assessment Part 1 (Subject Matter Hearing Only No Vote)
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 12/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin Chair starts with statement saying the consent degree has some portions that cannot be discussed in a public hearing. Not addressing some things should not be construed as lack of commitment to achieve degree
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 13/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin You can read this report on the consent decree here: chicago.gov/content/dam/ci…
chicago.gov/content/dam/ci…
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 14/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin First speaker from Chicago Dept. of Law Jennifer Bagley(?) speaks to all that is covered by consent decree, including Training, supervision, data collection, hiring, accountability.
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 15/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin She notes that many more city entities than just CPD have obligations under the consent decree, including CCPSA, COPA, Dept of Law, HR, OEMC, Police board, inspector general and more.
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 16/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin Chief Angel Novalez—head of CPD’s office of constitutional policing and reform reads his statement about progress made, and includes a long list of data management, staffing, etc. Also cites staffing has a primary issue.
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 17/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin Andrea Kersten, the Chief Administrator of COPA testifies saying they are in full compliance with “paragraphs” of the consent decree they are responsible for. chicagocopa.org/about-copa/lea…
chicagocopa.org/about-copa/lea…
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 18/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin Chair Taliaferro asks for questions from Alders. He asks CPD if they have % compliance numbers: 85% preliminary compliance 26% secondary compliance 5% operational compliance Dept of Law clarifies: Secondary compliance means “95% of the department has been trained in that area”
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 19/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin Consent decree is about 900 paragraphs. Those that are “monitorable” we tracked through 3 stages. 32 paragraphs regard operational compliance, and CPD corrects their number to 6% compliance there.
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 20/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin Ald Taylor asks questions about the training numbers trying to understand the several % stated. Chairman: why is the operational number so low? CPD: operational compliance is often the end of a process with many steps before it, including all the training requirements and review
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 21/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin Q: When is Chicago supposed to be released? A: Originally consent decree drafted it was intended to complete by March 2024. When search warrant requirements were added the target date was set to June 30, 2027
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 22/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin CPD: Los Angeles took 12 years to complete their consent decree.
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 23/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin Ald Nugent draws on a piece of paper at her desk to try to explain to room saying that if she visualizes the 3 stages, we really have made a lot of progress. Chairman Taliaferro: but independent monitoring has consistently criticized our pace of reaching compliance.
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 24/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin .@AldermanErvin engages: I have looked at this: officers are not readily willing to enforce some violations because they have to go “through all these hoops.” DeptLaw: as we build policy, we build tools for officers to document
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 25/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin @AldermanErvin (Good back and forth Q&A that we can’t cover on every tweet, if you’re detail interested encourage you to join the livestream! ) chicityclerk.com/committee-poli… chicityclerk.com/committee-poli…
chicityclerk.com/committee-poli… chicityclerk.com/committee-poli…
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 26/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin @AldermanErvin Q: where is the public giving input? A: there are monthly hearings in federal settings. Members of the monitoring team have public listening sessions.
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 27/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin @AldermanErvin Chairman is repeating definitions of preliminary, secondary, and operational compliance, and the Chicago legal council is shaking her head in the box, seeming to indicate a miscommunication.
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 28/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin @AldermanErvin Ok, moving on two next item, and @AldMattMartin has arrived in chambers, as he is the chief sponsor regarding deployment study. There is a “substitute” meaning “modest” changes to the ordinance introduced in Dec.
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 29/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin @AldermanErvin Also: Alderman Nugent saying that folks on livestream are hearing online questions that we are not hearing in the room. Chair asks tech to look into that, and keeps moving on current item
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 30/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin @AldermanErvin Zoom livestream screens are off in council chambers.
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 31/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin @AldermanErvin .@AldMattMartin introducing ordinance: Public safety is a top issue. We need calculations for how officers and detectives are deployed across the city. In the last decades, we’ve twice commissioned studies in 2016 or 2020, but neither study was completed or made public.
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 32/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin @AldermanErvin This includes frequency, location, and types of 911 calls for service. Other cities do this kind of data, e.g. Houston, San Diego. And the data report would fulfill a requirement of the federal consent decree
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 33/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin @AldermanErvin .@AldMattMartin: The anticipated cost is 800k to 1 mill. We have no vendor contract yet. “We are all conscience about city resources” and so we have identified philanthropic partners who have said they would fund this, so “no additional cost to the city”
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 34/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin @AldermanErvin Chairman stops to ask about screens remain off. Tech support says it is still live-streaming. Q&A continues with Ald Ervin and Ald Martin
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 35/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin @AldermanErvin Moved on to 3rd item: retirement age for police & fire Chair Taliaferro: The retirement age was set 63 yrs old in 2000. Times have changed. Many folks are working longer rather than retiring. Would moving the age to 65 be detrimental to the city or would it help our departments?
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 36/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin @AldermanErvin General counsel for CFD: “there is no reason to increase the retirement age now” Reasons not to: - job of firefighting is intensely physical demanding - reduces opportunities for promotion for lower ranks - CFD has no problems with hiring or retention. 2000 folks waiting
Chris Ridgeway @ridgewaychris 37/37
@wttw @jus10chi @AldMattMartin @AldermanErvin John Catanzara, President of Fraternal Order of Police (police union) is in the box to testify. He supports retirement age increase, says older police must still pass fitness test. Moves on to comment on arbitration, Chair Taliaferro cuts him off saying they need to stay on topic
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Note-taking by Caeli Kean

The Chicago Police Department may undergo a formal staffing analysis.

View notes

Agency Information

Chicago City Council

chicityclerkelms.chicago.gov

(312) 744-3166

@ChiCouncil

See Documenters reporting

The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago and consists of the Mayor and Aldermen elected from each of the City’s fifty wards. Source

If you attend a meeting in person, be prepared to go through a security checkpoint and show photo ID.

Meetings are also livestreamed at https://www.chicityclerk.com/.

At this link, scroll down to “Meeting Notices.” Look for “Watch now” and click on the link with the meeting title to go to a livestream page. If you don’t see a link for the meeting, you may be early or the meeting may be starting late. Wait a few moments and try refreshing your Internet tab.

Recordings of past City Council meetings may be found here: https://vimeo.com/user100351763/videos/sort:date.

See also: “What to Expect at a Meeting of Chicago’s City Council” via the Better Government Association.

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