October 20, 2023
The City of Chicago Announces Arbitration and Agreement with Fraternal Order of Police
Mayor's Press Office 312.744.3334
CHICAGO— Today, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced that his administration and the Fraternal Order of Police have reached an agreement that is fair and in alignment with Chicago’s current policing needs, economic landscape, and budgetary capabilities. Through the collective bargaining process, the city accomplished two goals – reducing the risk for any mandated arbitration awards that taxpayers would have to shoulder the financial burden of and realizing a savings in healthcare costs. The city remains deeply disappointed in the arbitrator’s decision to claw back transparency in the police disciplinary process.
“With this agreement in place, our administration can now direct our full focus on implementing accountability measures within the Chicago Police Department, supporting police offices, and a robust community safety agenda,” said Mayor Brandon Johnson. “My administration remains committed to moving forward with any avenue available to keep the police disciplinary process transparent and utilizing the full force of government comprehensive community safety agenda that will bring community leaders, businesses, philanthropic partners, faith leaders, and youth leaders together.”
Additionally, this agreement includes a paid parental leave policy that is in alignment with the needs of the Department’s workforce. Furthermore, this brokered deal will allow the implementation of the Homicide Teams Pilot program, a critical step towards improving the homicide clearance rate.
This agreement, with approval of City Council, will serve as a solution to the long-standing talks between the City of Chicago and the FOP, inherited from the former administration. Additionally, it enshrines several accountability measures in the consent decree, allowing the city to focus on the much-needed reform efforts that will strengthen the relationship between communities and law enforcement.
The Johnson administration’s main priority is to focus on a community safety agenda based on coordination and collaboration that will bring together the whole of community under the full force of government to tackle the community safety needs of the City.
As part of this community safety agenda, the Johnson administration has helmed the Chicago Police Department with the new Superintendent of Police, Larry Snelling, who will be tasked with guiding the CPD through a new era of constitutional policing. The proposed Chicago Police Department budget aims to facilitate this process by providing the CPD with the resources to actualize the consent decree compliance, including the creation of 300 civilian positions within CPD and an additional 100 new detectives.
At a community level, this work will focus on two core areas: investing in people and layering resources in communities while also developing a system of support for victims and survivors and investing in the future of youth and adults who have been historically disinvested. The administration has also launched a community safety cabinet that will work across all city agencies to review and respond to the needs of all Chicagoans.
###