(soft music)
(static hisses)
(heavy static noise)
Ladies
and gentlemen, the meeting will begin shortly.
Uh, for those in the gallery, the chair is issuing a warning at this
point. You are required to remain in your seats
quietly. If you do so, you will be granted your
three minutes to testify. We have your names and you will be
given your First Amendment right to free speech.
And in order to attain that, you have to follow the rules of decorum for
this meeting. That means no shouting and no
demonstrating prior to. If you violate those
rules, this is your last warning, if you violate those
rules, we will clear the chamber and you will be removed from the
chamber. So please remain quietly while you wait for your three
minutes. Thank you.
(pause)
Uh, thank you for your patience everyone.
The meeting will begin momentarily.
(pause)
The
joint committee meeting will come to order. Thank you for your patience, everyone.
We'll begin with a quorum call. Vice Chair
Yancey, Chairman
Taliaferro, Vice Chair
Robinson, Alderman Hall, Alderman Mitchell,
Alderman Chico,
Alderwoman Lee, Alderwoman Gutierrez,
Alderman Lopez, Alderman Curtis, Alderwoman Taylor, Alderman
Moseley, Alderwoman
Tavares. Where'd she go?
Oh, there she is. Alderman Cincho Lopez,
Alderwoman Fuentes, Alderman
Irvin, Alderman Cardona, Alderman
Sposato, Alderwoman Nugent,
Alderman Vasquez, Alderman Napolitano, Alderman
Knudson, Alderman Gardner, Alderwoman
Clay, Alderman Martin, Alderwoman Mina
Hoppenworth, Alderwoman Hedden, Alderwoman
Silverstein. We have a quorum present.
We have, uh, two Rule 59 requests. Alderman Napolitano
and Alderman Gardner, I believe they're on. Present, Mr. Chairman.
And Robinson. But do I have a motion to approve the Rule 59
request for those three alders? Moved by Alderwoman
Clay. Hearing no objections, so ordered.
Uh, please acknowledge Alderman Napolitano.
Alderman Gardner? Thank you, Chairman.
Napolitano's present, Chairman.
I did hear, uh, Alderman Robinson, I thought I heard him as well. Okay.
Uh, we have two public speakers. Uh, the first public speaker is Jessica
Jackson.
I'm requesting that the police that are here put their phones up,
turn on their cameras, and film what I'm saying, and send
it to Superintendent Larry Snelling.
Send it to Cook County Sheriff
Dart.
This is a public safety meeting. Chico, you used
to be a cop.
Taliaferro, you with the police. Hopkins, you in
charge of public safety.
And I've been coming in here saying that my life is in danger
because of the squatters in my
building. I've made it clear
that my life is in danger and everybody sitting in here know it, and haven't
done anything about it. Haven't done anything about it and then you gonna
have the audacity to send the police my way this
morning to tell me to sit down? When you all are
literally letting my life be in danger?
Now, Hopkins, you write that down while you right and acting like you don't hear
me. You sorry piece of alderman.
Every last one of you all are some sorry aldermen
and we coming for them seats.Y'all are sitting
here, literally letting the citizens be
overran by lawlessness. There is
no law and order in the city of Chicago.
There is no law and order in Cook
County. You all are sitting
by letting the citizens get overran by
criminals. And you're not doing anything about it.
You think, Hopkins, that you looking all
grand pulling out your phone, ignoring me, you think your seat can't
get got because you in with Daley?
You are a sorry alderman. You are a sorry
man. Anytime a woman is standing here telling
you that she's is, uh, jeopardy of her
safety and your response is to look at your phone, you are a sorry
man. If you married, I feel sorry for your wife and I feel even
sorrier for a daughter, if you got one.
Because I know for a fact no man in this
room
would allow their wife, their niece, their daughter life to be
in danger and talk about what they can't do.
Matt Martin, you are a
disgrace. Every last one of
y'all,
every last one of you, I hope you burn in
hell. You make sure you send this to Larry
Snelling, Superintendent Larry Snelling and to
Sher... And to, uh, uh, that DART. Learn how
to police for real and leave citizens
alone if you can't even deal with team
takeovers. You sorry police. And I
never say nothing bad about the police from this mic, and
y'all know that. But anytime y'all will sit back and watch my life
be in danger and not do nothing about
it...
The next speaker is George
Blakemore.
You all allow... You all are the problem, the
alderman. One of y'all, uh, uh, should have said,
"Wh- wh- what's your, what's with you every time you have your
committee meeting that you try to beat up on Mr.
Blakemore? What, why did you do this?" It's a
history
from one hall pin to the other. It's a
history. It's a history there with this man.
Uh, several, about 10 or 15 years ago,
this man hates me
and I hate him. "Why do you
hate him, Mr. Blakemore?" He tried to set me up to keep me
from coming to Cook County Board.
"How did he do that?" When Christina was working on John Daley's
staff too. They said, uh,
I will... I came and hit one of them with my bag.
That was a lie. The, the way they were going to do that, they were going
to say, if I'm guilty, he can't no longer be in so many
feet of Christina. But, but God works
in mysterious ways and one that's got the wrong...
I had a rich white lady praying
at $3 million, they came to Cook County
Board with that attorney and he said, "Mr.
Blakemore is doing God's
work." And we went out to
26th in California to all the sheriffs and everything, and
they, I was found innocent of all
charges. I am a powerful
individual. Uh, uh, I turned them
in to the Human Rights Department and every time he
chairs a committee, he has this hard on for
me. Revenge, uh, re-
that million dollars, $3 million were my
revenge. Colleen Blake
got this lawyer
and all charges was dropped and the sheriff
pedigree came and said, "We had camera, we, we didn't
see Mr. Blakemore hit anyone." Mr.
Blakemore is somebody and Hopkins is a
nobody. But you see him, you alderman a-
abuse me and you're silent. So you're
part of the problem too. Part of the problem is
that they're all Democrats and they're
all 69 each other. Well,
they're bad people. You supposed to stop them.
You supposed to tell him, "Don't treat this man
like this. He is a citizen of the
city of Chicago and we welcome our
citizens to come and speak." It's just two or
three...
Wait for him to log on.
Make sure it logs in. Okay. Uh, the first item of business is
approval of the Rule 45 report from the previous
meeting. Do we have a motion to approve?
Moved by Alderman Chico, hearing no objections, so ordered.
Uh, the next item is the Inspector General's Annual
Public Safety Report, uh, for 2004.
Uh, here to present, and I do believe we have the slides queued up, okay, very
good, is Deputy Inspector General Tabora Richardson. Ms.
Richardson.
Thank you.
Are you all able to hear me? Okay. Good morning, everybody.
My name is TaBara Richardson. I serve as the Deputy Inspector General for Public
Safety with the City of Chicago Office of Inspector General.
Thank you to Chairperson Hopkins.
Thank you to Chairperson Talia Ferrell and, um,
the Committee on, uh, Police and Fire and
the Public Safety Committees, and to each of you.
Um, today I'm going to present to you the work that was done by the
Public Safety Section in
2024.
The annual report details work published by the Public Safety Section in
2024 and an analysis of 2024
data. Um, you have seen the report.
Therefore, I'm going to talk to you all about the information contained in the
report at a high level.
Regarding strategic priorities, um, the three, uh,
priority areas that we have are, um, CPD
operations, um, the disciplinary system, and
civil rights or constitutional policing.
And the three ways in which we approach our work is by conducting
audit-based evaluations and reviews.
Um, our investigative analysis unit reviews the
individual closed disciplinary investigations conducted by COPA and
BIA. And then we have data that is available on our website,
um, where we make data available for transparency's sake.
I'm going to go through each of those three areas in which we conduct our
work and talk about the work that was done in
2024. In the first category
of work, that being audit-based evaluations and reviews, we
published four reports. Um, the first report published looked at,
uh, the backlog of background investigations conducted by the
Office of Public Safety Administration, or
OPSA. Um, in that evaluation,
we reviewed the process, uh, of background investigations for
CPD applicants, where we noted that the greatest
risk, um, were for overlooked
qualified candidates for hire due to initially
apparently disqualifying results and the denial
of rejected candidates' rights to approve...
to appeal. What we found was that non-white
applicants were more likely to become delayed in the backlog of background
investigations compared to white applicants.
Um, and this increased the risk of inequitable impact for
CPD's hiring process. And similarly, um, the risk is greater for
candidates who near the age of 40, um, where they may become
ineligible for, um, becoming a member of
CPD due to age restrictions. In
response to the report, the Office of Public Safety Administration
indicated that it was launching a newly developed applicant tracking
tool which had the capability of allowing applicants to see the
stafflet, the status of their applications in real time.
In 2024, the second report published by the Public Safety Section
looked at, um,
a completed review of the OIG report
that was published in 2021 regarding Chicago's response to
George Floyd protests and unrest.
Um, in 2022, the response of CPD
exposed the lack of preparedness, um, of CPD when
responding to large-scale gatherings, um, where there
were mass arrests. OIG
found that since those events, CPD had drafted extensive policy
revisions that improved mass arrest procedures as well as expanded and
clarified use-of-force reporting.
Further, the department has developed formal guidance for its response to
both planned and unplanned large-scale events.
OIG found that CPD has audited and expanded its inventory of
deployable equipment including passenger vans and body-worn cameras
and the collaborative development of detailed operational plans.
The reinforcement of such processes helped mitigate the confusion that was
evident in the department's response during the 2020 t-...
the 2020 protests and unrest. The third report
published by the Public Safety Section in 2024,
um, looked at CPD's patrol staffing structure,
previous and ongoing efforts to obtain information on patrol staffing from the
department, and the limitations
around CPD's patrol staffing data.
To accompany that report, OIG updated its sworn CPD
members' suite of data dashboards on its information portal,
which now includes granular data down to the beat
level.
And last, in 2024, the Public Safety Section completed a
follow-up to its October 2020 evaluation of
CPD's compliance with its policy regarding post-incident
requirements for members who discharge their firearms on or off
duty. In response to the follow-up, CPD and OPSA reported
that they are, or at least at that time, were in the process of setting up and
implementing a software management system that streamlines police
trainings and personnel management.
CPD and OPSA expected that the new system would track all
post-firearm discharge procedures, replacing the current, um,
post-incident procedures. Ultimately, the department had
implemented corrective actions at varying levels, and OIG urged
CPD to fully implement all the recommended corrective
actions. So those were high-level summaries of the four
reports published in 2024 by the Public Safety Section.
All of those reports are available, um, if you go to
igchicago.org. Um, and specifically, you can filter
those, um, based on, um, the inquiry
reports published regarding the Chicago Police
Department.I'm going to shift gears now to talk about the
work conducted by the Public Safety Section's Investigative Analysis
Unit. And that is the section or the unit of the Public Safety Section
that reviews the individual closed disciplinary investigations conducted by the
Civilian Office of Police Accountability, or COPA, and CPD's Bureau of
Internal Affairs, or BIA. Um, and what we're doing is we're looking
at those individual closed investigations, um, where we may
provide recommendations to inform and improve the processes of
the investigations conducted by COPA and BIA, or we are looking
for deficiencies that materially affect the outcome.
In 2024, the Investigative Analysis Unit screened and
conducted a preliminary examination review of
1,316 closed disciplinary
investigations. 471 of those investigations were
conducted by BIA, and 845 were
conducted by COPA. Out of those
1,316, um, screen
investigations, we opened 100 investigations for in-depth
review. And what we're doing again is looking for any
deficiencies that may materially affect the outcome.
In 2024, we also began publishing those recommendations to reopen
individual misconduct investigations we identified as having material
deficiencies, and we published those once BIA and COPA has
responded to our recommendations to reopen and once the
underlying investigation has reached a final disciplinary
decision. Again, I'll emphasize that
this work conducted by the Public Safety Section is separate from the
investigative work conducted by the Office of Inspector General, which is
confidential. Of the 100
cases that were open for in-depth review, we sent
seven recommendations to reopen to BIA and
15, 15 recommendations to reopen to COPA.
Of the seven recommendations sent to BIA, four of those
recommendations were reopened and three were declined by
BIA. Of the 15 recommendations to reopen sent to COPA,
COPA accepted 10 of those recommendations and they declined to reopen
five.
Typically, the products that the Investigative Analysis Unit will
send to COPA or BIA, um, are going to be those
recommendations to reopen, which you can now view on the website,
again, igchicago.org. Um, or they're going to be
recommendations to inform and improve.
In 2024, um, in addition to those two products, we
also sent an advisory, um, and we decided to send that advisory
to the mayor, um, because we felt that the mayor was the best,
um, the Office of the Mayor was the best department to address the
issue that we had observed throughout the years.
Um, specifically as we looked at, um, investigations
where CPD members, w- um, faced allegations where they
were affiliated, um, or members of anti-government
and extremist groups.
Uh, specifically the affiliations or memberships
were
the Proud Boys, the Three Percenters, and the Oath Keepers.
And we sent recommendations to reopen, um, on those
individual closed disciplinary investigations.
However, uh, there was more to be done as it related
to this work and not just in the form of the investigations,
which is important for those individual investigations, but to
address the issue, um, from a holistic perspective, specifically
when we're looking at preventing, um, individuals from becoming
members of the department with those affiliations to begin with.
So, we would have to look at recruiting and hiring under that
umbrella. That includes various entities, um, to include
OPSA, DHR, entities, um,
beyond just the traditional public safety arena.
Um, and then how our members able to identify
individuals who may belong or be affiliated with these
organizations. Um, and that is going to be able to
be addressed through education and training.
Um, and then last, it's one aspect of the multiple
aspects, um, looking at how are we able to
investigate and separate those members.
Um, and so we sent the recommendation to, um, well, this
specifically was an advisory, um, with recommendations to the mayor's
office specifying, um, our recommendation
to get the appropriate entities and stakeholders together in order to
create a task force. It's our understanding that that has been done as of this
year. And one other aspect of that recommendation included the
aspect of transparency. It's not enough to do work and people not
know about it, and so our recommendation also included consistent
public reporting as to what that task force was
doing.
Some of the key, um, investigative takeaways based on the
investigations reviewed by the Investigative Analysis Unit of the Public
Safety Section included that 63.4% of inv-
investigations were initiated by civilians.
Um, 30.7% of those investigations reached a closed final
status within one year. Um, investigations initiated
by CPD members were more likely, um, to end in
sustained findings. Investigations with sustained
findings typically took longer, um, to investigate as opposed
to investigations closed by other means.
Uh, most closed investigations conducted by BIA and COPA
resulted, um, in no sustained findings, and where there were
sustained findings, most of the discipline, um, resulted in
suspensions. 5.9% of the screen
investigations had associated civil lawsuits.
And last, investigations with video evidence
resulted, um, in more sustained
findings.I'm going to
now switch gears to the last, um,
way in which we typically conduct our work, and that is just by making data
available, um, for transparency's sake.
And so what we did is we collect the data and then we've done a
high-level analysis of what that data has revealed.
We have a dashboard, um, that looks at 911 calls for service.
In 2024, there was an increase in calls of
approximately 3.2% from 2023 to
2024. Um, the most common event types for
911 calls were disturbance, domestic disturbance, and parking
violations. In 2023, um, and it's
still close but it wasn't the top this year, in 2023, wellbeing checks were
also, um, some of the top 911
calls. Calls were, calls for service, just like in
2023 and 2024, were unevenly distributed
throughout the city, specifically where there are more calls on the city's
west and south sides.
In 2024, the eighth district, Chicago Lawn, had the highest
total number of calls for service, and the 20th district had the
lowest. Um, and as far as calls per
population, calls per 100,000, um,
comparing it that way, district 11, um, like in
2023, was the, would have been the top,
um, district as far as 911 calls for service.
We have a dashboard that covers arrest data, investigatory
stop reports, and tactical response reports.
TRRs or tactical response reports, um, are created whenever there is
some use of force. Based on that data,
Black subjects, um, are overrepresented in both arrests and investigatory
stops relative to their proportion in Chicago's
population. Um, and so as far as Chicago's
population, Blacks make up approximately
28.7% of Chicago's population, but make up more than
60% as it relates to investigatory stops and
arrests. Um, in 2024 compared to
2023, investigatory stops increased by
5%, and CPD arrests increased by
14.8%. Arrests in 2024
peaked in July and remain steady or constant
through the winter. In 2024, the first
district, or central, had the highest number of arrests and
second-highest number of investigatory
stops.
As it relates to tactical response reports, which detail use of
force, there was an increase of 24% from
2023 to 2024. 75%
of the tactical response report incidents from 2020 to
2024 included at least one Black
subject. Compared to 2020, the number of takedowns
increased and the number of taser discharged, chemical
weapon discharges with time used, and firearm discharges dis-
decreased.
We have a dashboard that details sworn CPD member
demographics. Um, and when looking at that
dashboard, there was a slight decrease in sworn members from
January to December of 2024 of approximately
1.24%. The portion of Latinx sworn members
increased from 6.48 ... by
approximately 6.48% when looking at
2020 to 2024, and the proportion of white
sworn members decreased from s- by approximately
6.94% from 2020 to 2024.
Um, and the gr- the group of experienced
members with the greatest increase was,
um, 8.2%
decrease for members with one to five years of
experience. And with regard to the number
or the percentage of
CPD sworn members hired in the last two years,
50.1% identified as Hispanic.
So those are some of the trends as it relates to CPD members'
demographics for 2024.
The last area that I want to shift into is, I place a lot of
emphasis on community engagement for the public safety section, and we
do it for the entire office. Um, but I think that it is really
important, um, for the team to not just sit
behind computers looking at data,
um, and we get out to interview, but to really be engaged with
community members to include the Chicago Police Department and,
um, civilians who are not in uniform.
And we do that in a number of ways. Um, with CPD, we attend,
um, many of their trainings. Um, and with community
members, um, myself included, we are going to
district council meetings. Um, really whatever events
we're invited to, whether it is a neighborhood community member, a
meeting at a church. Uh, so we try to
make sure, and it's emphasized for the entire section, that we have to
stay connected, not just through the data, the reports, the
interviews, but in real life, um, every day going out,
interacting, uh, with members of the public.
And one of my favorite events, which happens the first Tuesday of
August each year is National Night Out.
Um, and so I'm just going to place a little emphasis on that.
It's an event that's hosted by CPD,
um, but it's a night that represents what I think we are striving
towards. Um, we're always talking about bridging the gap between the police
department and, uh, communities.
And I think that that night represents in real life the
literal, um, representation of what we're striving to, because
it's going to take, uh, not just the police department, not just
the OIG Public Safety Section, not just each of your committees, but it's going to
take everybo- all of Chicagoans, everybody, um, in order
to strive towards that endeavor.
So-Uh, I like to place emphasis on community
engagement in addition to all of the great work that you've heard
about just now. And the last thing that I'm going to, um,
talk about is the public safety section's
thank you. Um, so this continues to be a pivotal time in history and
improving the relationship between communities and CPD is
critical to improving public safety.
Transparency is key to that goal as policing public safety and police
accountability are all interconnected.
The public safety section's work focuses on rendering Chicago's
policing and police accountability systems more transparent, both to members of
the public and members of the department alike.
As we're nearing the end of 2025, OIG is looking at topics to
consider for 2026. Throughout the year, OIG receives
feedback from... We receive fa- feedback from alderpersons.
We receive feedback from CPD members by going to different
role calls. We receive feedback at farmer's market, different community
events. And we've taken that feedback, um, and put out
topics that we are considering for 2026 in
addition to topics that haven't been launched to date.
But what I am asking, what I'm putting out there is we have currently our
draft public safety 2026 outlook on police
oversight and accountability available where individuals are able to
provide feedback on topics that we should prioritize in
2026. And where a topic doesn't appear that is a
priority, um, to each of you, there is a space for
feedback and comments to provide those topics.
Um, and
ultimately, we are all there as public
servants. But the public safety section, um, has to
express gratitude to those who share in OIG's mission to make
Chicago government more closely resemble the one Chicagoans deserve.
Not just in words or on paper, but on the streets and in the ways
that impact Chicagoans' day-to-day lives.
So I appreciate you all, your time, um, hearing about the work done by the
public safety section in 2024, and I welcome any
questions.
Thank you, Ms. Richardson, for a very detailed, uh,
summation of a lengthy report. So, uh, we appreciate that.
Uh, Co-Chair Talia Ferrell will conduct the Q&A,
uh, but who would like to kick us off with the first question?
Want me to come up?
Yeah, please.
Okay.
Thank you, Chairman.
I, I guess I, I'll start with the, uh, with the tough questions.
Thank you.
Uh, in your assessment of, um, the demographics with the Chicago Police
Department, uh, can you, can you tell us where, um, w- where
we currently stand with the number of active sworn police
officers?
So I can answer that question in a moment.
Um, my understanding is that it is around 11,000 or slightly over
11,000. But on our website, igchicago.org, um,
near the top it says, "Information Portal." You click down.
There's specifically a button that says, "Public Safety." Um, and we
have where it lists CPD sworn members, and that information,
um, is regularly updated. So on any given day, um,
anyone is able to look at, um, the number of active sworn
members and, uh, the demographics of those members.
Okay. And, um,
a- are you able to... Uh, well, let me ask, do they have information
regarding, um, those that are on, um, on
medical roll?
So, uh, it doesn't-
Not, not specifically, but the number.
The specific number? No.
Okay.
What we can look at, um, and that is as of
2024 is, on one
day, um, for each month, we are able to see the members who
were on patrol in a specific district, a specific beat, or
even if you wanna look based on wards, we're able to look at that
information. So to the extent, um, what matters
is not just the number of sworn members or the members who are active, but who's
actually out on a street. Um, we have endeavored
to present that information.
And you said that's on the public dashboard?
Yes.
And you... Um, the Inspector General's dashboard or is it the CPD
dashboard?
Um, so it is on the Inspector General's dashboard.
If you go to igchicago.org, click on, "Information Portal," click
on, "Public Safety Section." Um, and then
specifically when you look at, um, the patrol staffing dashboard, that
information is contained there.
Okay. And l- lastly, um, does your
office, um,
somewhat look at the, uh, the effectiveness of our...
And I, I notice on the, um, on your slide
presentation, um, that you, to some degree, um, look
at the departments that are, fall under the Chicago Police Department
as far as those that, uh, are somewhat, uh, departments that,
uh, uh, deal with accountabilil- accountability.
Does your office look at the effectiveness of those particular
agencies?
Yes. Um, so we have two units in the public
safety section. The Performance Analysis Unit is doing those programmatic
audit-based evaluations and reviews.
Um, and we have done reviews that not only include the
Chicago Police Department, um, but also the Civilian Office of Police
Accountability. Um, that is one that is underway.
Um, and then, of course, the Bureau of Internal
Affairs is within the Chicago Police Department.
Um, but one of our priority areas specifically includes, um,
discipline, um, and accountability.
So we're always looking at topics under that umbrella.
Have you concluded a report on the effectiveness of the Community
Commission? And, and that one I ask specifically because it's still a re- it's,
it's still a newly implemented, uh, commission.
Uh, have you, have you done the, um, a report to determine the
effectiveness of...Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability.
So we have not yet. That is on our, um, it was on
our 2025 outlook. It's on our 2026 outlook because the
public safety section was created prior to, um, the creation
of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, the public
safety section's ordinance does not specifically include
CCPSA. It includes Chicago Police Department, um, COPA
and, uh, BIA and the police board.
However, the creating sh- the creating ordinance
of CCPA, CCPSA specifies
that the public safety section is to conduct, um, an
evaluation of CCPSA. Um, and it gives a timeframe
after the, um,
permanent commission has been in place.
And so with that in mind, that is definitely on our radar and that's
something that everyone can look forward to.
Okay. Thanks a lot, Deputy. That's all I have.
Uh, any other questions? Told
you this would be a easy day.
(laughs)
A very easy day. Any other questions?
Last call. All right, there being no further questions, thank you
so much, Deputy R- uh, Deputy Inspector General Richardson for joining us today.
And, and I'm quite sure that some of my colleagues will probably give you a call
about... Because I know they're very shy here, um, during the holiday
season. And so, um, if there's any questions, uh, please, um,
I know that you guys will reach out to her and, uh, let me thank you for appearing
before us today. There being no further business before the committee, can I get a
motion to adjourn? So moved. Um, all
the, hearing n- no opp-
uh, hearing no one opposed to that, we are now adjourned. Thank you.
It's the holiday
season.