Today’s meeting will include an update on the Chicago Police Department’s budget process, as well as discussions about the 20th district’s priorities for this budget. You can find the agenda for this meeting here: chicago.gov/content/dam/ci…

In November, the City of Chicago will hold hearings to discuss its 2025 budget, which will include the Chicago Police Department’s budget. The first of these hearings is scheduled for November 6th.

Meeting begins at 6:04

The meeting begins with a land acknowledgment

Public comment begins at 6:09

The first speaker says he represents the Heart of Lincoln Square community association. Says he hears from many people in order to build trust with police. Says that in every instance when he’s seen cops reach out to people at events, they stay in their own circles.

He tells a story about encouraging the cops to talk to people at meetings with both police and general public. Encourages people to talk to the police in order to bridge gap between police and general public

Next speaker encourages attendees to vote in down-ballot races.

Public comment ends at 6:14

Anna Rubin moves to approve meeting minutes. Meeting minutes are approved.

Rubin states that the goal of today’s meeting is to hear from residents about what they want from the Chicago Police Department budget

Rubin states that the mayor will be submitting a proposed budget on 10/30, the budget will be approved after a series of public hearings in November, notes that the Commission has the power to review and recommend changes to the proposed Police Department budget

Rubin states that tonight’s meeting is a part of the review process, as they will be getting feedback on the budget

Rubin states that at the end of the process, the Commission will send a report to City Council

Rubin also states that the budget is almost 2 billion dollars, mostly going to personnel salaries

The next slide emphasizes this, as Rubin states that it can be difficult to know what is in the budget, as the way things are labeled is often not easily defined

Rubin further shows that most of the budget goes to the Bureau of Patrol

Rubin states that she and the other district council members are here to ensure transparency in the Chicago Police Department budget

Rubin explains that the Bureau of Patrol comprises general police officers

She further explains what falls under the Bureau of Counterterrorism

Darrell Dacres says that CPD has not been super transparent about where dollars are spent in Chicago, says he wants to see more specifics about where money is going through a Workforce Allocation Study

Rubin says that the Office of the Superintendent includes the office of community policing

An attendee says he believes detectives are a big deal, says he wants more information about how many detectives fall under the Bureau of Patrol. Anna Rubin brings up critics who say that because of Chicago’s low closing rate, the Bureau of Detectives should have more funding

Darrell Dacres says he has never seen the police acting as detectives or doing detective work, even when he encounters crime. An attendee says he believes violence prevention workers do more investigative work than the police.

Deirdre O’Connor suggests that the Chicago Police Department budget should be audited

Attendees get in groups of 2-4 to discuss budget priorities

As groups are meeting, Darrell Dacres says he wants everyone to have a voice in this process

One attendee says their group wants to see training get more funding along with crisis intervention

Another attendee says he wants to see more beat cops on the street

Another attendee says they do not know how much of the Counterterrorism budget goes to supplies like helicopters and wants more information

Another attendee says he thinks that the CPD budget should be broken down more evenly among different parts of crime response and prevention

An attendee asks if more of the functions covered by officers could be shifted to civilians

Another attendee says that they find the Counterterrorism Unit bizarre because so many things fall under it, asks for more clarity about where the money under counterterrorism goes

Another attendee says they would like to see a mentoring program through the Chicago Police Department

Darrell Dacres says that there are many barriers to this due to longstanding distrust of the police in many communities

An attendee says he would like to see more of the budget go to improving response times and to recruitment

Another attendee says they would like to see more crisis intervention

Another attendee says they would like to see mental health crisis responders in the 20th police district

Anna Rubin thanks the attendees for responding to these questions and for their thoughtfulness

Anna Rubin announces when CPD-related budget hearings will be held

Anna Rubin announces time and location of next monthly meeting

Rubin also announces time and location of the Strategic Plan Community Convention

Rubin also shows information about mental health crisis response in the 20th district

District council members discuss potential times and locations for future strategic planning meeting

Meeting ends at 7:31pm