[in person] 20th Police District Council - Edgewater/Andersonville/Arcadia Terrace

Criminal Justice

Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024
6:00 p.m. — 7:30 p.m. CDT

5835 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, Illinois 60659 Chicago, IL 60659 (Directions)

Mather Highschool

This is an in-person assignment and will include an additional hour of pay. PLEASE DOUBLE CHECK the meeting details on the day of your assignment, as dates and locations sometimes change.

Pre-Research Resources

City Bureau: “Can the Neighbors We Elect to Police District Councils Redefine Public Safety?”
City Bureau” “Chicago’s New Police District Councils, 4 Months In”
Find My Beat and District: Interactive map of police district boundaries
Chicago Reader/Block Club Chicago: Information about the candidates who ran for this council in the municipal elections
The TRiiBE: “ECPS coalition wins a wide majority of Chicago’s new Police District Council seats”

Check the source website for additional information

Reporting

Edited and summarized by the Chicago - IL Documenters Team

Live reporting by Eli Gillespie

An update on the Chicago Police Department’s budget process, as well as discussions about the 20th district’s priorities for this budget.

Eli Gillespie @EliDocumentsChi

Hello! I will be covering today’s 20th Police District Council meeting for @CHIdocumenters #CHIdocumenters

06:00 PM Oct 22, 2024 CDT

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Today’s meeting will include an update on the Chicago Police Department’s budget process, as well as discussions about the 20th district’s priorities for this budget. You can find the agenda for this meeting here: chicago.gov/content/dam/ci…

chicago.gov/content/dam/ci…

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In November, the City of Chicago will hold hearings to discuss its 2025 budget, which will include the Chicago Police Department’s budget. The first of these hearings is scheduled for November 6th.

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Meeting begins at 6:04

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The meeting begins with a land acknowledgment

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Public comment begins at 6:09

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The first speaker says he represents the Heart of Lincoln Square community association. Says he hears from many people in order to build trust with police. Says that in every instance when he’s seen cops reach out to people at events, they stay in their own circles.

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He tells a story about encouraging the cops to talk to people at meetings with both police and general public. Encourages people to talk to the police in order to bridge gap between police and general public

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Next speaker encourages attendees to vote in down-ballot races.

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Public comment ends at 6:14

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Anna Rubin moves to approve meeting minutes. Meeting minutes are approved.

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Rubin states that the goal of today’s meeting is to hear from residents about what they want from the Chicago Police Department budget

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Rubin states that the mayor will be submitting a proposed budget on 10/30, the budget will be approved after a series of public hearings in November, notes that the Commission has the power to review and recommend changes to the proposed Police Department budget

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Rubin states that tonight’s meeting is a part of the review process, as they will be getting feedback on the budget

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Rubin states that at the end of the process, the Commission will send a report to City Council

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Rubin also states that the budget is almost 2 billion dollars, mostly going to personnel salaries

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The next slide emphasizes this, as Rubin states that it can be difficult to know what is in the budget, as the way things are labeled is often not easily defined

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Rubin further shows that most of the budget goes to the Bureau of Patrol

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Rubin states that she and the other district council members are here to ensure transparency in the Chicago Police Department budget

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Rubin explains that the Bureau of Patrol comprises general police officers

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She further explains what falls under the Bureau of Counterterrorism

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Darrell Dacres says that CPD has not been super transparent about where dollars are spent in Chicago, says he wants to see more specifics about where money is going through a Workforce Allocation Study

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Rubin says that the Office of the Superintendent includes the office of community policing

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An attendee says he believes detectives are a big deal, says he wants more information about how many detectives fall under the Bureau of Patrol. Anna Rubin brings up critics who say that because of Chicago’s low closing rate, the Bureau of Detectives should have more funding

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Darrell Dacres says he has never seen the police acting as detectives or doing detective work, even when he encounters crime. An attendee says he believes violence prevention workers do more investigative work than the police.

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Deirdre O’Connor suggests that the Chicago Police Department budget should be audited

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Attendees get in groups of 2-4 to discuss budget priorities

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As groups are meeting, Darrell Dacres says he wants everyone to have a voice in this process

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One attendee says their group wants to see training get more funding along with crisis intervention

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Another attendee says he wants to see more beat cops on the street

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Another attendee says they do not know how much of the Counterterrorism budget goes to supplies like helicopters and wants more information

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Another attendee says he thinks that the CPD budget should be broken down more evenly among different parts of crime response and prevention

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An attendee asks if more of the functions covered by officers could be shifted to civilians

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Another attendee says that they find the Counterterrorism Unit bizarre because so many things fall under it, asks for more clarity about where the money under counterterrorism goes

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Another attendee says they would like to see a mentoring program through the Chicago Police Department

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Darrell Dacres says that there are many barriers to this due to longstanding distrust of the police in many communities

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An attendee says he would like to see more of the budget go to improving response times and to recruitment

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Another attendee says they would like to see more crisis intervention

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Another attendee says they would like to see mental health crisis responders in the 20th police district

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Anna Rubin thanks the attendees for responding to these questions and for their thoughtfulness

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Anna Rubin announces when CPD-related budget hearings will be held

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Anna Rubin announces time and location of next monthly meeting

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Rubin also announces time and location of the Strategic Plan Community Convention

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Rubin also shows information about mental health crisis response in the 20th district

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District council members discuss potential times and locations for future strategic planning meeting

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Meeting ends at 7:31pm

View thread

Agency Information

Chicago Police District Councils

See meeting notes for details

www.chicago.gov

See Documenters reporting

Each of the 22 District Councils is made up of three people elected by residents of the police district in regular municipal elections every four years, though anyone can participate in District Council work, and the more people who participate, the more effective the District Councils can be. The first District Council elections occurred in February 2023. Just as Chicagoans vote for a mayor and a local ward Alderperson, they also vote for up to three people to serve on the District Council.

The District Councils have several key roles:

Building stronger connections between the police and the community at the district level, where the community is a true partner in making the neighborhood safer. They can work with the police to address problems and set priorities.
Collaborating in the development and implementation of community policing initiatives.
Holding monthly public meetings, where residents can work on local initiatives rooted in community concerns and priorities. They can also raise and work to address concerns about policing in the district, and increase accountability.
Working with the community to get input on police department policies and practices. Working to develop and expand restorative justice and similar programs in the police district.
Ensuring that the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability gets input from the community, so that the Commission’s work will be based on what people in neighborhoods across the city are concerned about.
Nominating members of the Community Commission. Anyone who serves on the Community Commission must first have the support of elected District Council members.

(Source: Municipal Code of Chicago, 2-80-070(a) and (e))

For a map of police districts, visit https://www.chicagocityscape.com/maps/index.php#/?places_type=chipolicedistrict.