A focus on review of Chicago police rules and regulations, and police transparency and accountability will be among the 2025 goals Chicago’s Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability set last week when it met at Malcolm X College.
The goals apply to the Chicago Police Board, Civilian Office of Police Accountability and the Chicago Police Department.
The goals address a variety of issues, including reviewing and revising Chicago Police rules and regulations to determine which remain and which are to be discarded. Creating greater transparency to the public while maintaining the integrity of the bodies’ duties was also among the goals as well as continuing to build trust between the community and police.
The CCPSA addressed the Chicago Police Board first. It had one goal for the CPB broken down into three parts. The CCPSA looks to the CPB to review current police rules and regulations to determine which need to be revised, modified or deleted. The CPB is also to identify rules and regulations that need to be implemented to ensure “that the Chicago Police Department’s rules and regulations align with 21st Century constitutional policing, promote transparency and accountability, enhance community trust and foster equitable and effective law-enforcement practices.”
The CPB was also tasked with developing a process to review and revise the rules, and hold meetings with various districts, councils and stakeholders for input, said CCPSA commissioner Aaron Gottlieb.
Kyle Cooper, president of the CPB, said examining rules and regulations in the Chicago Police Department is long overdue.
“It has been several years, and in fact, decades, since there has been a systematic overhaul of the rules and regulations of the department,” he said.
The commission then addressed the civilian entity focused on police accountability and set goals, which include:
· Draft a policy with CCPSA that addresses COPA’s communication with the media and other stakeholders regarding open cases. Commissioner Aaron Gottlieb said it was important to be transparent while maintaining the integrity of the investigations.
· Implement a pattern-and-practice policy and mechanism that improves public safety outcomes.
· Create a mediation policy built on community feedback and implement such a policy and report on such progress to the CCPSA by the end of the year.
· Implement a policy that defines and supports the relationship between COPA and the CCPSA.
COPA Chief Administrator, Andrea Kersten, said as soon as she arrived at Thursday’s meeting, people asked about the mediation goal. She said it was one of the most important topics her office will address.
“Mediation provides an opportunity to take what could be a complaint, but maybe we could investigate and maybe recommend discipline,” she said.
“Mediation allows for an opportunity to develop a conversation, perhaps an understanding between the police officer that was involved and the community member that was involved, allowing a neutral third party to facilitate that conversation; hoping to create transformation as opposed to an end result that may or may not change people’s understanding of one another’s experience.”
Kersten said the goal of transparency and public communication regarding the office’s work was of “critical importance.” She said that for the first time in COPA’s history, the office has a policy research and analysis division that will address the second goal.
The final set of goals addressed was that of the Chicago Police Department. They are:
· Ensure all officers have a strong foundation in constitutional policing based on impartial policing to guide their work by implementing policies that further impartial policing, including a policy on traffic stops.
· Execute an interim approach for managing department resources while the Workforce Allocation Study is ongoing. Execute the WFA and develop and implementation policy when complete.
· Prohibitions on criminal and biased organizations and establishing a mechanism to track such complaints.
· Build and foster a collaborative partnership through engagements that result in greater public trust between the department and the community.
· Develop and implement systems and improve facilities to ensure a healthy and resilient workforce.
· Ensure that the department supports every victim of crime, including referrals to other city agencies where appropriate.
Commission President Anthony Driver Jr. said the goals were developed with Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling.
Snelling stressed that the department wanted to work with the public to ensure everyone’s safety. He said continuing to build trust was vital to that goal. He also said he understood that some residents have been traumatized by experiences with the police and that it may take longer to gain those people’s trust again.
In what appeared to be in reference to goal five, Snelling said he didn’t necessarily fault police officers for the erosion of trust between citizens and police. He said previous leadership may have been to blame for police officers’ trauma and that his goal was to address it. Once issues with police officers are addressed, then the relationship between police and the public can improve.
“We now have to make sure that we step up and repair our officers and build that trust,” he said. “Once we can do that, through wellness, we now have a very well-trained police department with officers who are available to the community with a clear understanding of what the community needs. That’s my job.”
Snelling also said that the development of public policy wasn’t just between the police and the CCPSA. He said input from the community was particularly important. And he said the city needed to develop policies that remain in place during future administrations.
Goals for all three agencies were adopted unanimously.
