Committee on Public Safety meeting, April 11, 2024
- When: Thu, Apr 11, 2024, 2:00 PM (Chicago time)
- Where: City Council Chamber, 2nd Floor, City Hall, 121 North LaSalle Street - Chicago, IL 60602
- Status: Revised
- Committee: Committee on Public Safety
- Video: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/933404358
- Transcript: full text (10,742 words, official captions)
Meeting notes
AI-written from the transcript. Speakers are inferred from cues in the recording, so treat names as estimates and check the video at the linked time.
The Committee on Public Safety met on April 11, 2024, heard four public commenters, and approved the Rule 45 report from its March meeting. The main item was mayoral ordinance 8373, which would let the police superintendent, consulting with the Secret Service and OEMC, set a security footprint with prohibited items and activities around 2024 Democratic National Convention sites from August 17 to 26, with violations punishable by fines or jail. Members asked about waiving economic disclosure statements for convention contracts, when the footprint map will be released, protest permits and enforcement, unhoused residents in the area, penalties, surveillance technology, outreach to residents and businesses, and the use of $75 million in federal security funds. The committee approved the ordinance on a motion with no objection. It then held a subject matter discussion on an approximately $11 million police helicopter to be bought with DNC funds and kept by CPD, and it held proposed ordinance 7341 on postal carrier security at the sponsor's request.
Topics: Democratic National Convention security, Security footprint ordinance, Protest rights and permits, Police helicopter acquisition, Federal security funding, Postal carrier security, Public comment
Agenda items discussed
- 23:42 Public comment: discussed
- 36:52 Rule 45 report from the March meeting: passed
- 37:15 Mayoral ordinance 8373: security footprint area, boundary regulations and authority for convention-related activities and agreements for the 2024 Democratic National Convention: passed
- 1:06:45 Subject matter discussion on acquisition of an aerial surveillance police helicopter with DNC funding: discussed
- 1:12:43 Proposed ordinance 7341 calling for federal funding and resources for U.S. Postal Service mail carrier security: held
Alderpersons who spoke
- Brian Hopkins (chair): Introduced the DNC security footprint ordinance and said the helicopter acquired for the convention would be retained by the Chicago Police Department afterward. (37:15); Said a map of the security footprint will be shared with the committee as soon as the Secret Service allows. (48:33); Responded that he has confidence in committee members to keep shared security information confidential and would not seek ways to enforce that. (1:00:45)
- Maria E. Hadden (alderperson): Asked why parties to convention agreements would not have to submit economic disclosure statements and affidavits as normally required. (40:52); Said waiving disclosure statements might leave the city open to problematic contracts and asked whether past ordinances used the same provision. (42:30)
- Raymond A. Lopez (alderperson): Asked when the city will be able to state the actual geographic security footprint. (43:42); Asked how protests and demonstrations, including permits already applied for, would be affected by a footprint not yet determined. (44:31); Asked how demonstrating without a permit would be handled under the ordinance's enforcement. (45:57)
- Byron Sigcho-López (alderperson): Asked for details on how the roughly $75 million allocated for DNC security would be used. (48:57); Expressed concern about outside groups intending violence, distinguished them from First Amendment activity, and urged expanded street outreach and prevention programs for the summer. (50:09)
- Jessica L. Fuentes (alderperson): Asked whether OEMC and other departments would help unhoused residents living in tents within the footprint before the DNC. (52:51); Asked whether the city's working group would brief the Council on its plans before the DNC. (54:33); Asked how penalties ranging from fines to six months in jail would be assigned for specific violations. (54:57)
- Derrick G. Curtis (alderperson): Asked whether there would be enough cameras and license plate readers in about a two-block radius outside the footprint. (56:27)
- Pat Dowell (alderperson): Asked what police told businesses in the designated area during a briefing this week. (57:54); Asked whether police anticipate using vacant facilities near the footprint for staging and whether stakeholders were told. (59:30)
- Walter R. Burnett (alderperson): Asked whether canvassing around the United Center reaches residents or only businesses and institutions. (1:02:24); Said door knocking during working hours is not fair to residents who work, and asked about the boundaries of the four-block area. (1:03:12)
- Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (alderperson): Asked what strategy police will use to keep the peace while protecting the right to protest. (1:04:36); Asked whether police plan to inform the public about their rights and how to avoid violence during the convention. (1:13:21); Asked that information be sent to alderpersons' offices so constituents traveling downtown know what to expect and where to go for safety. (1:14:03)
Exchanges between members
- 43:39 Lopez thanked the chair before asking about the security footprint.
- 56:12 Hopkins asked Curtis whether he had a question and gave him the floor.
- 57:54 Dowell thanked the chair before asking about business briefings.
- 1:00:24 Lopez asked how information shared with the committee would be kept secure.
- 1:00:45 Hopkins answered Lopez that he has confidence in committee members' sense of duty.
- 1:02:24 Burnett thanked the chair before asking about canvassing.
- 1:04:30 Manaa-Hoppenworth thanked the chair before asking about protest strategy.
- 1:15:09 Hopkins thanked Manaa-Hoppenworth for her questions on public information.