Saying that the implementation of a consent decree for the Chicago Police Department has been “too slow,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a series of police reform directives in an address to the city on Tuesday night.
According to the mayor, she presented the list of directives to Police Superintendent David Brown, describing them as “immediate necessary next steps on our journey toward reform” in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Lightfoot says that within the next 90 days, she wants to implement the following reforms:
- More training for police officers that involves community members as teachers at the academy. This includes learning about the history of the neighborhoods the officers will be assigned to patrol.
- Lightfoot also called for expansion of programs like “My Block, My Hood, My City” that will provide youth-led tours of neighborhoods for officers.
- Implementation of an officer wellness program, and completing work on the “Officer Support System/Early Intervention System” program, which will provide support for officers in crisis.
- Crisis intervention and procedural justice training will be required for all officers.
- New programs to emphasize the importance of police-community relations, and community policing programs that encourage officers to engage with community members to see what their needs are.
“Let’s get it done,” Lightfoot said. “The superintendent and the department must be totally transparent in these efforts. This is just a start, not the end of our journey for police reform and accountability.”
