Lightfoot’s new ‘chief risk officer’ to overhaul workers’ comp, police-misconduct payouts

Atlanta native Tamika Puckett, recognized as one of the nation’s top risk managers, is set to be the city of Chicago’s new Chief Risk Officer. Part of her mission: overhaul a beleaguered $100 million-a-year workers’ compensation program and stem payouts from police-misconduct lawsuits that hit a record $113 million in 2018.

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Tamika Puckett, currently Director of Enterprise Risk Management for the city of Atlanta, is the city of Chicago’s new Chief Risk Officer.

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Tamika Puckett, a black woman from Atlanta recognized as one of the nation’s top risk managers, has been named the city of Chicago’s new Chief Risk Officer, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot is expected to announce Friday that the 42-year-old investigator, currently director of enterprise risk management for the city of Atlanta — overseeing workers’ compensation and property and casualty insurance programs — will head Lightfoot’s newly created Office of Risk Management.

Among her tasks: overhaul the city’s beleaguered $100 million-a-year workers’ compensation program, and stem astronomical city payouts from police misconduct lawsuits that last year hit a record $113 million.

“It is imperative for the city of Chicago to have a rigorous and robust risk management office to identify and mitigate potential threats to the economic viability of our city,” Lightfoot said in an emailed statement.

“Tamika is an accomplished professional who has proven she is ready to lead this charge and create a proactive, multi-layered strategy that will protect the city of Chicago and its residents,” the mayor said of her new hire, effective July 29.

The new office follows other Lightfoot creations, e.g. the Office of Equity and Racial Justice. Candace Moore, also a black woman, from Chicago, will begin as Chief Equity Officer July 1.

Earlier this week, one of Lightfoot’s appointments came under fire from grassroots community leaders, when Susan Lee, an Asian American woman, was named deputy mayor for public safety. Those grassroots leaders felt the position could have been filled among anti-violence activists working on the ground in black and brown communities.

With nearly two decades of experience in risk management, Puckett, who was named a 2018 Insurance Business America Leading Risk Manager, will oversee all claims, judgments and liabilities for the city of Chicago, and will be expected to reduce city operational costs.

“Initial areas of focus will include reducing vehicular accidents, damage to property, workplace accidents and lawsuits concerning police practices which cost the city tens of millions of dollars a year,” the city said in a statement. “The Office of Risk Management will play a key role in freeing up funds that would otherwise be spent on lawsuits, attorneys’ fees, and other payouts from avoidable incidents and injuries.”

Puckett, who moves here with her 7-year-old daughter, has been in her current position since October 2016. Prior to that, she served two years as risk manager for the city of Atlanta, and three years as director of risk management services for Durham Public Schools.

“Chicago is a welcome challenge,” she said Thursday night. “Motor vehicle accidents — a huge risk factor for cities with large fleets — police-related lawsuits, and the workers’ comp program, are definitely top priorities,” she said.

“I have a lot of experience managing workers-comp caseloads. I think Chicago paid out over $78 million last year, so I’m really interested in taking a deep dive into the data. You want to find out where the injuries are occurring, how they are occurring. There are always ways to find savings in workers’ comp,” she said.

A recent audit found Chicago’s workers’ comp program — overseen for decades by Ald. Ed Burke (14th), who has been indicted for racketeering and bribery — operated with little, if any, effort to “detect potential fraud, waste and abuse,” adding that “its fraud risk management processes were largely missing or undocumented.”

The city paid more than $85 million last year to settle police-misconduct lawsuits, and another $28 million to private attorneys to defend the city in those cases, an area of liability Puckett finds “very interesting.”

“The consent decree really outlines where the training needs to take place, as far as use of force, understanding signs when there are mental health or behavioral issues, and just properly engaging with the community, even when the officers haven’t been called. Just building those relationships from the beginning will really help when an officer does have to engage because then the relationship is different,” she said.

“I am excited to work with Mayor Lightfoot ... to identify and find solutions for the inevitable risk that all organizations face, so that the city is stronger financially.”

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