Cities like Chicago are being urged to reconsider their policing strategies by a group of former police chiefs.
Why it matters: Chicago is now looking for a new chief cop.
In the runoff election scheduled for next month, when public safety and crime will be major considerations, David Brown’s replacement as police superintendent will work under a new mayor chosen by the electorate.
Bringing you the news A new report presenting national policing challenges and reform-minded answers was written by the former Seattle police chief Kathleen O’Toole and the 21st Century Policing Solutions and issued this morning.
According to Bob Boik, the former executive director of constitutional policing for the CPD, the report should be utilized as a guide when choosing the next superintendent of Chicago.The big picture: According to the report, issues cities are facing include declining public confidence in law enforcement, a shortage of officers, and growing criminality during and after the pandemic.
Remedies, according to the group, include employing neighborhood police who are from and look like the areas they serve, holding leadership accountable, and involving the community in policing strategy.
It’s important to remember that the team responsible for the report is a result of a task force that former President Barack Obama appointed in 2014.
The paper advises police administrators to restructure their agencies’ divisions to place more focus on patrols and less on specialized units. The suggestion follows the fatal police beating of Tyre Nichols in Memphis following a traffic check involving a special team.
According to Boik, it also emphasizes establishing community-based methods with the development of trust as the main goal.
Building community trust has a big impact on violent crime, according to what we’ve learned from other big cities like New York or Los Angeles, adds Boik.
Chicago has been subject to a consent decree ordered by a federal court since 2018, but local authorities have taken their time enforcing the changes.
What they’re saying: According to Boik, who was removed from his CPD position last year after questioning Brown’s deployment strategy and lack of progress on reforms, “the difficulty in Chicago is that reform has been contextualized as a box-checking exercise and true reform is very different.”
