# All 18 members showed up this time. What the Police Department told them about its $4 million victim services office *The Office of Victim Services says it has 50 specialists, five jobs open, and gave just under 3,000 domestic violence victims referrals last year. No vote was taken; members asked for the office's confidentiality policy in writing.* By Chicago Politics · Updated Nov 13, 2026 The City Council's Committee on Police and Fire held its domestic violence hearing Thursday afternoon, six weeks after the first try fell one member short of a quorum. All 18 members attended, [Block Club Chicago reported](https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/11/13/alders-finally-hold-domestic-violence-hearing-to-discuss-how-city-can-better-support-victims/). The session ran a little over three hours ([video and transcript](/meeting/051DB20E-BCC9-F111-AAAE-001DD803894A?t=4242)). Why it matters: the hearing is the Council's only public look at whether the Police Department's expanded Office of Victim Services is reaching survivors before alderpersons vote on the 2027 budget. No vote was taken; it was a subject-matter hearing on Ald. Nicole Lee's resolution ([R2026-0026326](/matter/R2026-0026326-call-hearing-addressing-concerns-about-investing)). This follows [Thursday's preview](/on-my-block/domestic-violence-hearing-today-office-victim-services-3-9-million-questions), which set out the numbers from Block Club's June investigation. ## How Lee framed it Lee (11th) opened by saying the hearing was "not an exercise of stealing someone else's lunch money" and that "there's not enough to go around" ([watch](/meeting/051DB20E-BCC9-F111-AAAE-001DD803894A?t=4301)). She said she was "glad that it got delayed," because it put the hearing in the middle of budget season, and reported that the Department of Family and Support Services had committed to replacing $400,000 in expiring federal pandemic money for gender-based violence programs ([watch](/meeting/051DB20E-BCC9-F111-AAAE-001DD803894A?t=4385)). ## What the department said Mike Milstein, a deputy director in the Police Department's Office of Equity and Engagement, which oversees victim services, presented the department's figures. From the transcript: - **Budget:** the office has $4 million in 2026, about $2.5 million of it for domestic violence, which he said is about 0.12% of the department's budget ([watch](/meeting/051DB20E-BCC9-F111-AAAE-001DD803894A?t=4928)). - **Staff:** six victim specialists at the start of 2024, 14 in January 2025, 32 in August 2025, and 50 after a final round of hiring in June 2026: 31 for domestic violence and 19 for other violent crime. Five positions are still vacant ([watch](/meeting/051DB20E-BCC9-F111-AAAE-001DD803894A?t=5067)). Each specialist handles 100 to 200 cases a month, he said in answer to Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th) ([watch](/meeting/051DB20E-BCC9-F111-AAAE-001DD803894A?t=9195)). - **2025 results:** specialists tried to reach 17,225 domestic violence victims and gave "some sort of service" to 7,196, or 41.8%. They couldn't reach 6,115, and about 3,000 declined services ([watch](/meeting/051DB20E-BCC9-F111-AAAE-001DD803894A?t=5474)). - **Referrals:** just under 3,000 victims got referrals to community providers; 2,400 got safety plans and 492 got help seeking housing or shelter ([watch](/meeting/051DB20E-BCC9-F111-AAAE-001DD803894A?t=5525)). Most referrals are information given to victims to call agencies themselves, he said, because few sign a release form. - **The hotline:** among callers to the state domestic violence hotline who named a referral source, 10% named the Chicago Police in 2025, up from 7% in 2023, citing a report by The Network ([watch](/meeting/051DB20E-BCC9-F111-AAAE-001DD803894A?t=5573)). He said that alone doesn't prove the program caused the increase. "We should not be creating a false choice" between police-based outreach and community services, he said. "We need both" ([watch](/meeting/051DB20E-BCC9-F111-AAAE-001DD803894A?t=5931)). ## How it squares with June Block Club reported in June that specialists tried to contact 18,052 victims of violent crime in 2025 and reached 6,383. Thursday's figures count domestic violence cases only and use a different measure, "some sort of service," so the two aren't directly comparable. Block Club also found four of 56 listed providers said they got referrals in 2025, a point Lee raised again ([watch](/meeting/051DB20E-BCC9-F111-AAAE-001DD803894A?t=4456)). ## The confidentiality question Advocates questioned whether a police office can keep survivors' information private. The department says its domestic violence unit is set up to meet the state law's definition of a domestic violence program, so trained staff can keep communications confidential ([watch](/meeting/051DB20E-BCC9-F111-AAAE-001DD803894A?t=5042)). A witness from The Network, a coalition of domestic violence groups, said victim-witness staff at other law enforcement agencies don't claim that privilege, and that the groups worry the office duplicates what community advocates and legal aid lawyers do ([watch](/meeting/051DB20E-BCC9-F111-AAAE-001DD803894A?t=9776)). How the department would answer a defense subpoena for survivors' records is "of utmost concern," she said ([watch](/meeting/051DB20E-BCC9-F111-AAAE-001DD803894A?t=9885)). ## What members asked for - The department's written confidentiality policy, and its slides, for the committee ([watch](/meeting/051DB20E-BCC9-F111-AAAE-001DD803894A?t=12159)). - Advocates' funding letter and contact information sent to all 50 alderpersons, at Taylor's request ([watch](/meeting/051DB20E-BCC9-F111-AAAE-001DD803894A?t=10108)). - A meeting with the Office of Emergency Management and Communications on how 911 information reaches advocates ([watch](/meeting/051DB20E-BCC9-F111-AAAE-001DD803894A?t=12261)). ## What's next Nothing in the hearing changes the budget by itself. The Council's public hearing on the 2027 budget is Dec. 8, and a budget must pass by Dec. 31. A second story covers [what the community groups told the committee](/on-my-block/domestic-violence-advocates-turn-away-60-percent-rape-crisis-no-city-money). *Sources: [Block Club Chicago: The City spent millions on a flailing domestic violence program, June 10, 2026](https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/06/10/the-city-spent-millions-on-a-flailing-domestic-violence-program-no-one-asked-for-advocates-say/).* ## Legislation in this story - [Call for hearing(s) on addressing concerns about investing in Office of Victim Services rather than increasing funds for emergency housing and legal aid programs](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/matter/R2026-0026326-call-hearing-addressing-concerns-about-investing) (R2026-0026326) ## Sources 1. City Clerk: [R2026-0026326: Call for hearing(s) on addressing concerns about investing in Office of Victim Services rather than increasing funds for emergency housing and legal aid programs](https://chicityclerkelms.chicago.gov/Matter/?matterId=0FB846FA-736A-F111-A823-001DD80F48AE) 2. City Clerk: [R2026-0026326, Legislation: w11others - r26326.pdf](https://occprodstoragev1.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/matterattachmentspublic/c2402d90-3cb2-4f7c-9529-35e76f0154ac.pdf) 3. Block Club Chicago: [Block Club Chicago reported](https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/11/13/alders-finally-hold-domestic-violence-hearing-to-discuss-how-city-can-better-support-victims/) 4. Block Club Chicago: [Block Club Chicago: The City spent millions on a flailing domestic violence program, June 10, 2026](https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/06/10/the-city-spent-millions-on-a-flailing-domestic-violence-program-no-one-asked-for-advocates-say/) 5. Chicago Politics: [R2026-0026326: votes, timeline and summary](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/matter/R2026-0026326-call-hearing-addressing-concerns-about-investing) --- Source: https://www.chicagopolitics.org/on-my-block/domestic-violence-hearing-all-18-attend-cpd-50-specialists-referrals-no-vote · Chicago Politics, an independent tracker of the Chicago City Council. Guide for agents: https://www.chicagopolitics.org/llms.txt