The Independent Monitoring Team’s third semiannual status report (IMR-3) reflects our continued commitment to meaningful reform, as demonstrated by a three-fold increase in compliance with consent decree requirements during this period. Since the consent decree became effective in March of 2019, the City and the Chicago Police Department (CPD) have successfully implemented a host of significant reform measures, illustrated in this report by an increased level of compliance achieved across every section of the consent decree.  

The Independent Monitoring Team also found the City and the CPD to be in compliance with more requirements than the previous two reporting periods combined— more than tripling previous compliance. While much work remains to be done, this report exhibits a significant step up from both previous reporting periods and is evidence of the important and community-focused work being done by both the City and CPD on our journey to make Chicago a national leader in constitutional and accountable policing. 

The City and CPD’s ongoing efforts resulted in several notable accomplishments highlighted in IMR-3: 

• Instituted 32 hours of mandatory in-service training for all officers, which will increase to 40 hours in 2021, marking a significant improvement on training from years past. Over 95% of officers completed the in-service training requirement as required by the Consent Decree.  
• Conducted extensive community engagement on various CPD policies, including Use of Force, School Resource Officers, and interactions with members of specific populations, such as transgender, intersex, and gender non-confirming individuals. 
• Improved transparency by revamping public use of force dashboard. 
• Started a pilot program for CPD’s new Officer Support System to identify and support officers who may be at risk. This program will serve as a national model for identifying the assisting officers in need.  
• Created a brand new Anti-Retaliation Department-wide policy. 
• Developed expansion plans of the Unity of Command/Span of Control pilot program, which will help supervisors be better equipped to lead, monitor & assist officers under their supervision. 
• Hired the Department’s first Language Access Coordinator and Americans with Disabilities Act Liaison. 

It is important that we also acknowledge and take ownership of the opportunities to do better, the road to reform remains a marathon, not a sprint, as evidenced by other major city police departments that have worked tirelessly, in some instances for a decade or longer to achieve full compliance with their respective consent decrees. Two years into our journey, there are many more miles ahead, but we remain committed to improvement and to building a better CPD. 

The City and CPD remain committed to fulfilling not only the requirements delineated by the consent decree, but to going above and beyond what is outlined toward making the Department a true leader in police reform. In this year alone, this work has included the Mayor’s Executive Order creating a streamlined and transparent system for complainants alleging police misconduct to receive video and other materials of their interactions with CPD, sweeping reforms to CPD’s search warrant policy, and the hiring of the Department’s first Senior Advisor of Officer Wellness, Alexa James. The consent decree is merely a baseline, not the ceiling, and the City and CPD remain focused on continuous improvement and organizational learning across all areas of reform. We look forward to working alongside the Independent Monitoring Team, the Office of Illinois Attorney General, as well as with our community partners to implement the transformational change needed to makeCPD a better Department for all of Chicago. 

###