Five government agencies in the city of Chicago are charged with oversight of the Chicago Police Department . These agencies have overlapping authority and their membership is determined through a mix of appointments by the Mayor of Chicago, confirmations by the Chicago City Council, and elections. The agencies were created and reformed over several years as a result of ongoing efforts for civilian oversight of law enforcement and in response to numerous controversies in the police department.
In 1974, mounting allegations of police brutality in Chicago led to the creation of a blue-ribbon panel led by U.S. Representative Ralph Metcalfe. On the panel's recommendation, the Office of Professional Standards (OPS) was formed as an independent investigating agency. [1] [2] In 2007, amid criticism of the OPS' ineffectiveness and a series of police scandals, the City Council and Mayor Richard M. Daley replaced it with the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA). [1] [2] [3] In 2015, controversy following the murder of Laquan McDonald led Mayor Rahm Emanuel to create the Police Accountability Task Force. In April 2016, the Task Force recommended sweeping changes including the replacement of IPRA with an agency with more authority and resources. [3] [2] In October 2016, City Council passed an ordinance creating the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) and granting more oversight powers to a new Deputy Inspector General for Public Safety in the city's inspector general office. [2] [4]
In the 2010s, two new proposals for civilian oversight of police emerged and gained some support in the City Council. The Chicago chapter of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression began drafting an ordinance called Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) in 2012, [1] which was first introduced in City Council by alderperson Carlos Ramirez-Rosa in 2016. [5] [6] This was in part motivated by the murder of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by Chicago Police officer Jason Van Dyke. [7] It was proposed when then-Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel formed the Police Accountability Task Force, which was chaired Lori Lightfoot, who was later elected Mayor after Emanuel stepped down. [7] As of 2020, only 19 Chicago aldermen supported the legislation; support from 26 aldermen is needed to pass the legislation. [8]
The CPAC proposal would have created an elected agency with "authority to select the person in charge of the department tasked with investigating cops, hire and fire the police superintendent and make the final call on police rules." [6] CPAC would be an elected council with a representative from each of Chicago's 22 police districts with the power to both appoint and dismiss the Superintendent of Police, investigate police misconduct, and would be the final authority regarding discipline in the Chicago Police Department. [9]
In 2016, a coalition of community organizations formed the Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability (GAPA), and proceeded to introduce an alternative police oversight proposal in 2017. [10] The proposal, based partly on reforms in Seattle and Los Angeles, [11] would have created a new commission with "the power to subpoena documents, fire the police superintendent, reversible only by a two-thirds City Council vote, establish police policy, choose the Police Board and hire and fire the Police Board president." [12]
After voicing some support for the GAPA proposal in the 2019 election, Mayor Lori Lightfoot backed away from the proposal in October 2020, primarily over the issue of whether the proposed civilian body or the mayor would have final say over police department policy. [13]
In February 2021, the CPAC and GAPA coalitions began talks on a joint effort for a compromise ordinance, which they put forward the subsequent month as the Empowering Communities for Public Safety (ECPS) ordinance. [14] [15] The measure advanced through City Council and garnered support with the Progressive, Black, and Latino caucuses. [16] Lightfoot introduced an alternative measure, which would have retained mayoral control over superintendent appointments and departmental policy. [17] In July 2021, Lightfoot agreed to support the ECPS proposal after a compromise that gave the proposed civilian commission authority over departmental policy while allowing for mayoral vetos of the commission (which in turn could be overturned by a two-thirds majority of City Council). [18] The next week, the City Council passed the Empowering Communities for Public Safety ordinance in a 36–13 vote. [18] The ordinance created two new bodies: a 7-member Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA) and 3-member district councils for each of the 22 police districts in the city. [19]
The Empowering Communities for Public Safety (ECPS) ordinance enacted in 2021 created 22 district councils corresponding to each of the 22 police districts in Chicago. Each council will consist of three members who are elected to four-year terms. The councils are required to hold monthly meetings and are charged with building connections between the police and the community, collaborating on the implementation of community policing, and soliciting community input on police policies and practices. The district councils also nominate 14 candidates for the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA), of which seven will be selected by the Mayor. [20] [21]
The first elections for district council members were held during the 2023 municipal elections, and councils will take office on May 2, 2023. [22]
The ECPS ordinance enacted in 2021 also created the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA), a seven-member body that is charged with police oversight and accountability. The CCPSA holds monthly public meetings and is charged with promoting community engagement and transparency in policing, and has various oversight powers including: [23] [21]
In August 2022, Mayor Lori Lightfoot selected seven interim members for the CCPSA based on 14 candidates nominated by the City Council. The interim members will serve until the elected police district councils take office in May 2023 and recommend candidates for full terms on the CCPSA. [24]
The Chicago Police Board is a nine-member agency charged with nominating candidates for the position of Superintendent to the Mayor, adopting rules and regulations for the department, and deciding disciplinary cases when the Superintendent files to discharge or suspend (for more than 30 days) a police officer. The Board is also charged with resolving disciplinary cases when there is a dispute between the Chief Administrator of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability and the Superintendent. [25] [26] The board is made up of nine civilian members who are appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the City Council. [25] [27]
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) is an independent city agency which has the authority to investigate allegations of police officer misconduct and police shootings. [28] It can make recommendations about disciplinary action and department policy, but cannot take such action itself. [27] [29] COPA was created in 2016, replacing the former Independent Police Review Authority. [29]
Within the city of Chicago's Office of Inspector General, the Deputy Inspector General for Public Safety is charged with "charged with auditing police practices, identifying troubling trends, recommending changes to the police contract and bird-dogging the new multi-tiered accountability system." [4] This position was created in 2016, in the same ordinance that created the Independent Police Review Authority (since replaced by COPA). [4]
The current Deputy Inspector General for Public Safety is Tobara Richardson, who was nominated by Inspector General Deborah Witzburg and confirmed by the City Council in September 2022. [30] [31]
The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the primary law enforcement agency of the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, under the jurisdiction of the Chicago City Council. It is the second-largest municipal police department in the United States, behind the New York City Police Department. As of 2022 CPD had 11,710 sworn officers on duty, and in 2020 had over 948 other employees. Tracing its roots to 1835, the Chicago Police Department is one of the oldest modern police departments in the world.
Police commissioner is a senior rank in many police forces of the world. In other jurisdictions, it is the title of a member of an oversight board.
A police board, police services board, or police commission is an appointed commission of a local government charged with the responsibility of overseeing a local police force. Police boards may be required by government regulation, as they are in most of Canada, or they may be voluntarily formed by individual municipalities.
The government of the City of Chicago, Illinois, United States is divided into executive and legislative branches. The Mayor of Chicago is the chief executive, elected by general election for a term of four years, with no term limits. The mayor appoints commissioners and other officials who oversee the various departments. In addition to the mayor, Chicago's two other citywide elected officials are the City Clerk and the City Treasurer.
David O'Neal Brown is an American police officer who served as the Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department from 2020 to 2023. He was the chief of the Dallas Police Department from 2010 to 2016. He has received praised by some for his reforms designed to reduce violent confrontations between police officers and the community and increase the department's accountability and transparency. He has also been criticized by the local police union for the methods of implementation of some of his policies.
Civilian oversight, sometimes referred to as civilian review or citizen oversight, is a form of civilian participation in reviewing government activities, most commonly accusations of police misconduct. Members of civilian oversight boards are generally not employed by the government entity which they are reviewing. These groups are tasked with direct involvement in the citizen complaints process and develop solutions to improve government accountability. Responsibilities of civilian oversight groups can vary significantly depending on the jurisdiction and their ability to become influential. Oversight should not simply criticize but should improve government through citizen support for government responsiveness, accountability, transparency, and overall efficiency.
Carlos Ramirez-Rosa is an American politician. He has served as the Alderperson for Chicago's 35th Ward since May 18, 2015. He was first elected to the Council in 2015, become one of the chamber's youngest members ever elected at age 26. He was re-elected in 2019 and 2023.
John Arena is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented the 45th ward in the Chicago City Council from 2011 to 2019.
The Chicago Board of Education serves as the board of education for the Chicago Public Schools.
Sophia D. King is an American politician and former member of Chicago City Council, who served as alderman from the 4th ward, which includes portions of the neighborhoods Bronzeville, Hyde Park, Kenwood, Oakland, and South Loop. King was appointed to the position in 2016 to replace retiring incumbent Will Burns. She won a special election to serve out the rest term of the term in 2017 and was re-elected to a full term in 2019. She was a member and chair of the City Council's Progressive Reform Caucus. King forwent reelection to the city council in 2023 in order to make an unsuccessful run for mayor of Chicago in the 2023 Chicago mayoral election.
The Chicago Police Accountability Task Force (CPATF) was a task force created to "review the system of accountability, oversight and training that is currently in place for Chicago's police officers" in 2015. It was announced via press release on December 1, 2015, in the wake of the murder of Laquan McDonald and the protests and political fallout afterward. On April 13, 2016, the task force released its final report, which found "racism and systemic failures in the city's police force, validating complaints made for years by African-American residents."
Eddie T. Johnson is an American retired police officer for the Chicago Police Department. He served as the 62nd Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department from March 2016 until December 2019.
Andrea Joy Campbell is an American lawyer and politician who is serving as the attorney general of Massachusetts. Campbell is a former member of the Boston City Council. On the city council, she represented District 4, which includes parts of Boston's Dorchester, Mattapan, Jamaica Plain, and Roslindale neighborhoods. A member of the Democratic Party, she was first elected to the council in November 2015 and assumed office in January 2016. She served as president of the council from January 2018 until January 2020. Campbell unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Boston in 2021, placing third in the nonpartisan primary election behind Annissa Essaibi George and Michelle Wu, the latter of whom would go on to win the general election.
Lori Elaine Lightfoot is an American politician and attorney who was the 56th mayor of Chicago from 2019 until 2023. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before becoming mayor, Lightfoot worked in private legal practice as a partner at Mayer Brown and held various government positions in Chicago. She served as president of the Chicago Police Board and chair of the Chicago Police Accountability Task Force. In 2019, Lightfoot defeated Toni Preckwinkle in a runoff election for Chicago mayor. She ran again in 2023 but failed to qualify for the runoff, becoming the city's first incumbent mayor to not be reelected since Jane Byrne in 1983.
Rossana Rodríguez-Sánchez is a Chicago politician and community organizer. She is the alderwoman of Chicago's 33rd ward, having taken office as a member of the Chicago City Council in May 2019. She won election to that office after defeating incumbent Deb Mell in the 2019 Chicago aldermanic elections. She is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
James M. Gardiner is a Chicago politician and firefighter who serves as the alderman for the 45th ward in the Chicago City Council. Elected to the Chicago City Council in 2019, Gardiner identified as a political independent; however, he would later switch to the Democratic Party and currently serves as the 45th Ward Democratic Committeeperson.
The Chicago Police Board voted on October 17, 2019 to dismiss Chicago Police (CPD) Officer Robert Rialmo who fatally shot Quintonio LeGrier and neighbor Bettie Jones on December 26, 2015 while answering a 911 domestic violence call at the LeGrier residence in Chicago. The dismissal capped a "chaotic finish to a high-profile trial" where a judge first announced that the jury found Rialmo unjustified in his shooting of LeGrier, but erased the verdict promptly, after declaring that the jury found Rialmo feared for his life when he shot LeGrier.
The police abolition movement gained momentum in the U.S. city of Minneapolis during protests of the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and culminated in the failed Question 2 ballot measure in 2021 to replace the city's police department with a public safety department. The measure would have removed minimum staffing levels for sworn officers, renamed the Minneapolis Police Department as the Minneapolis Department of Public Safety, and shifted oversight of the new agency from the mayor's office to the city council. It required the support of 51 percent of voters in order to pass. In the Minneapolis municipal election held on November 2, 2021, the measure failed with 43.8 percent voting for it and 56.2 percent voting against it.
The 2023 Chicago elections took place in two rounds on February 28, 2023, and April 4, 2023. Elections were held for Mayor of Chicago, City Clerk of Chicago, City Treasurer of Chicago, all 50 members of the Chicago City Council, and 66 members of the newly-created police District Councils. The elections were administered by the Chicago Board of Elections.
