CPD seeking community input on local policing strategy

West Siders are getting a chance to share their public safety concerns and offer suggestions for the best way to tackle them as all police districts in the city hold “community conversation” meetings throughout October.

The meetings are part of the consent decree between the Chicago Police Department and the U.S. Department of Justice that was approved in early 2017. Among other things, it calls for each police district to develop a strategic plan that outlines its “core crime reduction priorities and community engagement goals over the course of a year.” The consent decree requires that it gets public input, which the districts do through community meetings and online submission forms.

The process for developing the plans kicked off in 2019. Since then, the community conversation meetings have been held every year. The meetings have been virtual for the past two years.

This year, each district is holding an in-person meeting and a virtual meeting. Both meetings are open to the public, but only the latter require advanced registrations.

All meetings run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The West Side is served by four police districts. The 10^th District, which includes the section of North Lawndale south of Roosevelt Road, will have a virtual meeting on Oct. 21 and an in-person meeting on Oct. 27 at the Lawndale Christian Health Center, 3750 W Ogden Ave.

The 11^th District, which includes all of West Garfield Park, the section of North Lawndale north of Roosevelt Road, the part of West Humboldt Park south of Division Street and most of East Garfield Park, had its virtual meeting on Oct. 13 and will have an in-person meeting on Oct. 18 at the Golden Dome fieldhouse, 100 N. Central Park Ave.

The 15^th District, which encompasses the section of Austin south of Division Street, had a virtual meeting on Oct. 6. The in-person meeting will be held at By The Hand Club’s Austin campus, 415 N. Laramie Ave., on Oct. 20.

The 25^th District, which includes Galewood and the rest of Austin north of Division Street, will have an in-person meeting on Oct. 19, at Dulce Mesa Restaurant, 2835 N. Central Ave., and a virtual meeting on Oct. 26.

For more information about the meetings, including the registration links for virtual meetings, visit chicagopolice.org/convo.