Police oversight commission holds special meeting on proposed CPD budget

The Community Commission on Public Safety and Accountability held a virtual meeting Monday night, questioning Chicago’s top cop and other department brass on the proposed police 2023 budget.

The interim commission is charged with reviewing and commenting on the Chicago Police Department budget before a City Council vote. Mayor Lori Lightfoot revealed her budget this month. In the proposal, the Chicago Police Department’s budget would increase from $1.88 billion to $1.94 billion.

Supt. David Brown was asked to provide data on how the 2023 resources would be allocated to expand the Neighborhood Policing Initiative, which encourages officers to engage with residents on a personal level. He was also asked to explain how patrol units are allocated to each district, and for how long.

Anthony Driver, president of the CCSPA, questioned Brown on police response times in neighborhoods like Englewood on the South Side being slower when compared with other areas of the city, saying the commission needs to understand how police resources are spread throughout Chicago.

“The piece that doesn’t get discussed enough when talking about workforce allocation is the investigative aspect of our ecosystem. The resources it takes to investigate a shooting, a homicide, a robbery, a carjacking, that’s a significant deployment, and it takes many of the patrol cars out of service,” Brown said.

Brown acknowledged that the city also needed to invest in the community. He thanked the commission for doing its work during “the most complex time in policing.”

“I know you all are in a fact-finding mission, and some of these answers are complex. It is the most difficult, challenging and dangerous time to be a police officer and also the most complex time. Really the landscape of policing has changed for forever,” Brown said.

During the public comment section of the meeting, Loren Jones of the Empowering Communities for Public Safety (ECPS) Coalition, said the organization was strongly against the increase to the CPD budget.

“We urge that the commission recommend that more city funds be directed towards alternatives to police,” Jones said. “CPD’s funding grows nearly every year, yet there continues to be a serious lack of effort to increase efficiency or transparency over how those resources are being used.”

LaCreshia Birts, also of ECPS, requested the commission seek the firing of “all officers who have committed harm.” Birts alluded to an “officer who is on record for organizing meetups with the Proud Boys,” referring to Officer Robert Bakker, who was suspended for 120 days after a lengthy internal investigation for his ties to the far right organization.

Created by Lightfoot in late August to restore trust between police officers and community members, the CCPSA met for the first time last month at Malcolm X College.

The commission is set to meet again Thursday evening at Kennedy King College.