Chicagoans might well be skeptical when they read about the Chicago Police Department deployment study that the City Council’s Police and Fire Committee approved earlier this week.
That response is justifiable, since “studies” are common in government, research might never be completed and the results might never be shared with the public.
But this time, we hope, will prove different.
Research can be crucial in helping to pinpoint policies and practices that really work to improve public safety and strategies that may need to be revamped or tossed aside because of a disproportionately harmful impact on Black and Brown communities.
Law enforcement studies could also be used as a blueprint to help police departments make the best use of their diminished resources and manpower.
None of those benefits can happen, though, if the research recommendations are never implemented as was the case with a previous University of Chicago Crime Lab workforce allocation study for CPD.
That can’t happen again with this next deployment study. And transparency should be a key component of the plan, as Ald. Matt Martin (47th) promised, with philanthropy, not taxpayers, footing the $800,000 to $1 million bill.
It’s a crucial time for policing in our city, when input and research by experts could make a significant positive impact on crime-fighting and community trust. Chicagoans put public safety at the top of their agenda during the mayoral campaign, and while shootings are down, robberies and other violent crimes rose last year. The nagging problem of officer recruitment isn’t going away anytime soon. And CPD needs to do more than inch forward on policing reform.
A well-done study, conducted by a “qualified third party,” could help figure out how to speed up police response times to calls and further CPD’s compliance with the 2019 federal consent decree that called for reforms to discipline, supervision, training and recruiting of officers.
The mayor, City Council and Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability would be expected to receive quarterly briefings. A written report would be required within a year, and that write-up would be released to the public, the Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman reported.
Time will tell how much detail the public will get. And the full City Council still must approve the study.
But as Martin put it, the study will shed light for the public on how CPD’s staffing decisions are made. The department is in an uphill battle to regain the trust of many Chicagoans, and any step toward greater transparency is a step in the right direction.
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