Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability releases review of proposed Police Department budget

 

Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability releases review of proposed Police Department budget


Recently, the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability released its review of the proposed 2023 Chicago Police Department budget and sent the report to every member of the City Council. By law, the Commission is required each year to review the Police Department budget before the City Council votes on it.


With 87 percent of the Police Department budget dedicated to personnel, the Commission wrote, “the central question when reviewing the budget is whether the Police Department is using its workforce in ways that adequately protect the health and safety of the people of Chicago.”


The Commission’s initial review raises troubling questions about whether the Police Department is using its workforce in a way that is best meeting the city’s public safety needs, allowing police officers to build the knowledge and relationships to do their jobs most effectively, allowing Chicago residents to get to know their patrol officers, creating stable supervisory relationships that improve officer effectiveness and increase accountability, and creating a healthier work environment for police officers.


According to the report, “Preliminary evidence suggests that the Police Department is not using its budget effectively or equitably because it does not currently have a long-term, data-driven strategy to reduce violence. Enormously consequential allocation decisions appear to be made ad hoc, in reaction to daily changes in crime trends, not as part of a carefully-developed strategy.” This may put all Chicagoans, and especially those who live in predominantly Black and Brown neighborhoods, at greater risk of being injured or killed.


The report also emphasizes that workforce allocation problems create untenable and unacceptable work conditions for Chicago police officers.


Commission President Anthony Driver said, “The City’s spending on policing is increasing, and yet the rates of violence remain alarmingly high in some communities. Our spending on public safety is not delivering the results our communities need. We need to spend better and more strategically. The Commission is committed to working with the City Council, the Police Department, and residents across the city of Chicago to better protect the health and safety of all Chicagoans.”


The report also raises question about the Police Department’s efforts to learn from mistakes and reduce the costs associated with avoidable errors and police misconduct. According to the report, “The Commission is also concerned that, despite the immense harm and staggering cost associated with improper uses of force, police-involved traffic collisions, and other avoidable problems, the Police Department and City of Chicago Department of Law do not systematically assess opportunities to reduce harm, reduce costs, and reduce opportunities for litigation, make appropriate changes to training and policy, and monitor progress. We simply cannot afford a system and a culture in which we don’t do more to learn from our mistakes and correct them.”


The Commission calls for regular reports from the Police Department on key issues, and commits the Commission to regularly-scheduled public meetings to address the main areas of concern.


The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability was created by City Council ordinance in July 2021. The ordinance creates two bodies: a citywide Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, with power to advance systemic reform, and District Councils, which will be elected in each police district in February 2023 and work to improve policing and public safety in the district. The Commission and 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. Members of the interim Community Commission were appointed in September 2023.

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