The City of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department have announced plans to gather community input focused on policing efforts and the expansion of alternate response models aimed at strengthening safety citywide. Community engagement sessions will begin on November 2nd, 2024, and will continue through early 2025. This transparent engagement process was created to advance Mayor Brandon Johnson’s People’s Plan for Community Safety and the Chicago Police Department’s (CPD) reform progress. 

Eight community-based organizations have been selected to develop and implement a process to gather community feedback that will be used to inform the continued development and expansion of three streams of the City of Chicago’s public safety work, all of which are in early stages of development with next steps available in mid-late 2025:  

• Community Policing: As outlined in CPD policy, every officer is a community policing officer. To ensure the department continues building on this foundation, CPD is working to adopt a comprehensive approach to community policing that will prioritize relationship and trust-building amongst every officer and resident. The goal of this approach is to broaden communication and collaborative problem-solving between the police department and the communities it serves. Support for this initiative is provided by Civic Consulting Alliance and 21CP Solutions.  
• CPD’s Workforce Allocation Study and Model: This study, which is required by City ordinance and rooted in CPD’s consent decree efforts, will take a comprehensive look into the department’s staffing levels across every bureau and rank, including both sworn and civilian positions. The results of this study will assist CPD in the allocation of resources Department-wide. Matrix has been selected to conduct this study, which is being funded through The Commercial Club of Chicago Foundation, in partnership with several philanthropic and business partners from the region. The scope of this study is available on CPD’s website. 
• 911 Alternate Response: The City is exploring new alternate response models for a range of resident needs to prioritize efficient allocation of both City and police resources. These models are geared toward improving specialized response care and equitable outcomes during 911 responses that do not require or are not best met with a police skillset. The City is building on the work of Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement (CARE) program, a 911 response that sends City employees from the Chicago Department of Public Health - a Crisis Clinician and an Emergency Medical Technical – to meet the needs of those in a behavioral or mental health crisis. Research partners University of Chicago Crime Lab and University of Chicago Health Lab are providing research support for this initiative, together with Civic Consulting Alliance 

The community-based organizations chosen to lead the community engagement were selected based on an open, competitive process. These organizations represent different demographic areas that contribute to the diversity of Chicago:

• YWCA Metro Chicago
• Brave Space Alliance
• Bright Star Community Outreach
• BUILD Incorporated
• Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community
• El Valor
• Target Area Development Corp
• The Resurrection Project

Community Engagement

Between November 2024 and February 2025, nearly 30 community engagement sessions were hosted across the City by the community-based partners listed above. A report of their engagements and feedback heard from them is forthcoming and will be made publicly available in the Spring.

How to get involved in your community

How to report a concern

• Enter your address here to find your district
  • Scroll down and click on each District for contact information, beat map, news and District-specific engagement calendar
• Community conversations to inform annual District Strategic Plans, in which each district involves community members in collaborative problem solving and strategy development; this approach is both proactive as it prevents future incidents and reactive to patterns of crimes that community members have recognized.
  • Community Conversations for 2025 plans are ongoing now! See here for dates
  • Use the dropdown button to view district strategic plans by year and district here

• Criminal activity (gangs, narcotics, prostitution), disorder, and/or quality of life concerns including troubled building (abandoned, dilapidated) via CPD’s Community Concern Reporting Portal
• City services (street lights, garbage pickup, graffiti) or non-emergency police services, including such as senior well-being checks via  Chicago 311 portal
• Police performance (complaints or compliments): COPA website

Learn more about

• CPD Data, statistics and reports: includes weekly crime statistics by District, annual reports as well as dashboards of complaints filed, consent decree progress and use of force
• CPD Draft Annual Training Plan for 2025: CPD’s Training and Support Group conducts an annual training needs assessment to collect input from stakeholders regarding CPD training priorities. This needs assessment process informs the development of CPD’s annual training plan. Additionally, see here for CPD’s training policy.
• The Consent Decree requires CPD and the City of Chicago to reform training, policies, and practices in a number of important areas, such as use of force, community policing, impartial policing, training, accountability, officer wellness, data and information systems, and more. The goal is to ensure that the CPD performs constitutional and effective policing that keeps both community members and officers safe and restores the community’s trust in the Department.
• The Independent Monitoring Team evaluates the progress and issues public reports on whether the City and CPD are meeting the requirements of the consent decree.