Strategy for Organizational Excellence
Overview
The Chicago Police Department’s “Strategy for Organizational Excellence” is a three-year plan designed to enhance public safety, build community trust, and foster the professional growth of the department. The strategy is built on four key foundations: Building, Developing, and Supporting Our Workforce; Community Trust; Neighborhood Safety; and Organizational Infrastructure. The foundations are designed not just to address immediate challenges, but to pave the way for long-term, sustainable engagement and growth. Each foundation reflects a critical area of focus, from investing in department members to strengthening relationships with the community, addressing safety concerns, and reinforcing the department’s organizational structure.
The formal public comment period for this document concluded on May 7, 2025. However, we encourage continued engagement with this strategy to help ensure it aligns with the needs and priorities of the communities we serve. While feedback submitted after the comment period will not be part of the official record, it remains valuable and will be considered for future updates. Through ongoing collaboration with both internal and external stakeholders, the Chicago Police Department remains committed to strengthening its capacity, enhancing resilience, and advancing public safety for all Chicagoans. To share your input, please use the “Leave a Comment” section below.
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Public Comment
The formal public comment period for this document closed on May 7, 2025. While the official comment window has ended, we welcome ongoing feedback and will continue to accept comments indefinitely. These will not be part of a formal comment period but will help inform future revisions.
Message from the Superintendent
“Our three-year Strategy for Organizational Excellence provides a framework to achieve CPD’s mission of serving our communities and protecting the lives, rights, and property of all people in Chicago. It isn’t just about numbers on a page or checking boxes; it’s about real, sustainable change that reinforces support for CPD members across the department and can be felt in neighborhoods throughout the city. In a city as vibrant and diverse as Chicago, our role extends beyond traditional law enforcement. Our mission to serve and protect is intertwined with our commitment to foster trust, support our workforce, and maintain a robust organizational infrastructure. By investing in our officers, listening to our communities, and holding ourselves accountable, we will further enable the CPD to be a department that every Chicagoan is proud of, relies upon, and trusts. As we move forward, we invite all members of the community to join us in this vital endeavor, working together to forge a safer Chicago”
— Larry Snelling
Superintendent of Police
Four Foundations
The Strategy for Organizational Excellence is built on four key foundations: Building, Supporting, and Developing Our Workforce; Community Trust; Neighborhood Safety; and Organizational Infrastructure. These foundations serve as the framework upon which we can adapt, strengthen, and evolve, ensuring long-term success in fulfilling our mission. Each foundation reflects a critical area of focus, from investing in department members to strengthening relationships with the community, addressing safety concerns, and reinforcing the department’s organizational structure.
The Chicago Police Department is made up of mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children, and friends—many of whom put themselves at risk every day to keep communities safe. Most Chicagoans will never have to experience the dangerous and often traumatic circumstances that officers endure. The department recognizes the service and sacrifices of its members and is committed to fostering a holistic culture of wellness within CPD, beginning with the recruitment of individuals looking to serve their communities and carrying forward to support members into retirement. The department will listen to the feedback of all sworn and non-sworn members as they progress in their CPD careers. It will work with members to build morale, implement professional development opportunities, and provide the resources needed to stay safe and well. When members can attend to their own needs, spend time with their families, take the time to process trauma, and learn how to better cope with the daily stress of the job, they broaden their health and wellness and their capacity to serve the people of Chicago. The department commits to listening to members’ feedback and will strive to build internal trust and morale and empower members with the tools needed to remain resilient as peacekeepers—for themselves, their families, and the communities they serve.
The people who make up Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods are at the heart of the Chicago Police Department’s strategic plan. The plan outlines opportunities for CPD to listen, learn, and have meaningful conversations with those it serves while also enhancing its service to all members of the community, including victims, survivors, and their families. CPD members are a part of these communities and share the same values, aspirations, and neighborhood safety goals. CPD will elevate the experiences of police officers and community members alike, building bridges of understanding and empathy. Not only will these conversations enable the community to stay informed, but through them the department will maintain and strengthen its relationships while growing community trust and confidence.
The Chicago Police Department’s mission is founded upon its commitment to keeping Chicagoans safe in every zip code, neighborhood, and block. To be effective problem solvers and crime fighters while maintaining the support and approval of those it serves, department members must leverage strategies, training, and tools that appropriately address identified concerns. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. Collaboration is a key component of community-based policing, and the department looks forward to working more closely with community partners to better understand the problems residents are facing, which in turn will help CPD do its part in preventing crime, upholding its duty to enforce the law, and providing appropriate responses to individuals who may benefit from non-law enforcement responses. In addition to expanding community partnerships, CPD will continue to enhance its analytic and intelligence capabilities, using technology to ensure it is effectively leveraging all possible tools in its operations. These expanded partnerships, effective policing strategies, and technology, combined with the department’s dedicated staff of sworn and non-sworn members, will help to continuously evaluate the effectiveness of its strategies as well as the impacts those strategies have across communities.
When one thinks of the Chicago Police Department, their thoughts may include an officer patrolling the streets or a squad car decorated in blue lights. However, CPD is made up of sworn and non-sworn members serving ‘behind the scenes’ to create effective and sustainable strategies that are at the very foundation of the organization. This foundation and structure are essential to sustainable success, and they rely on a framework by which the department can continuously challenge itself and renew its commitment to the mission of protecting the lives, rights, and property of all Chicagoans.
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