[in person] Police District Council 19 Special Meeting - Town Hall

Criminal Justice

Friday, May 12, 2023
12:00 p.m. CDT

1224 W Wilson Ave, Chicago, Illinois 60640 Chicago, IL 60640 (Directions)

Emerald City Coffee

This is an in person assignment to document a meeting of the newly elected 19th District Police Council and will include an additional hour of pay.

Check the source website for additional information

Reporting

Edited and summarized by the Chicago - IL Documenters Team

Live reporting by Rebecca Pritchard

Ride alongs, Mental health services, Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement (CARE) team,

Rebecca @attypritchard

Hi, I’ll be live-tweeting today's Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability: Police District Council 19 Special Meeting for #CHIdocumenters @CHIdocumenters. The meeting starts at 12!!

11:45 AM May 12, 2023 CDT

Rebecca @attypritchard 2/19

While we wait, here’s the agenda https://t.co/aAlsD0jHRs

Rebecca @attypritchard 3/19

I’m here right Maurilio Garcia, Sam Schoenburg, Jenny Schaffer for their special meeting. They just started 5 minutes ago. This is to plan for their first community meeting.

Rebecca @attypritchard 4/19

The district is making plans to provide for incoming immigrants - they’ve raised $8000 so far for provisions! They’re working with a local church to provide showers, etc.

Rebecca @attypritchard 5/19

General Counsel for the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, Charlie Isaacs, is also here as a community member.

Rebecca @attypritchard 6/19

The council is determining places/dates for their first regular meeting, likely at the end of the month. Considering libraries, schools, and hospitals (but not getting much responses from principals)

Rebecca @attypritchard 7/19

They want the location to be centrally located, large enough for 80+ people, and close to a transit station.

Rebecca @attypritchard 8/19

All of the districts of Commission for Public Safety and Accountability have started having their first regular meetings this week (first in the history of Chicago!!) and have had decent turnouts, roughly 50, give or take.

Rebecca @attypritchard 9/19

Schoenburg wants to determine how monthly check ins with CPD, who they will be communicating with. “The more of us having conversations with them, the better,” says Garcia.

Rebecca @attypritchard 10/19

Schoenburg similarly would like to have contacts with regular POs, not just leadership. He wants to do ride alongs and roll calls, too.

Rebecca @attypritchard 11/19

He’d also like to do ride alongs with CARE team - Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement. Includes a paramedic, mental health counselor, and a crisis intervention trained PO. currently they only operate during business hours.

Rebecca @attypritchard 12/19

The group also wants to connect with mental health facilities to work with them and do walk throughs of their facilities

Rebecca @attypritchard 13/19

Schaffer wants to talk to the community about private versus public mental health facilities - possibly during their second monthly regular meeting.

Rebecca @attypritchard 14/19

She wants to “make sure we are adding to the treatment not trauma conversation… and make sure mental health funding is going where it needs to go in Chicago.”

Rebecca @attypritchard 15/19

Garcia talks about a meeting with a local HOA where they brought Communities Partnering for Peace and ONE North Side to provide community based alternatives to just calling 911.

Rebecca @attypritchard 16/19

The Council has moved onto designing the structure of their monthly regular meetings now. How to hold public comment and what broad topics to cover at upcoming meetings.

Rebecca @attypritchard 17/19

They’re now discussing how to send a message that we want to lower our reliance on police without being anticop.

Rebecca @attypritchard 18/19

They plan to inform the public about what CCPSA and what the District Councils are at their regular meeting.

Rebecca @attypritchard 19/19

Votes are saved for next meeting. Meeting is adjourned at 1:15! Next meeting will be Tuesday, May 30 @ 6:30 pm - location TBA! For more meeting coverage visit Documenters.org ❤️❤️

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Agency Information

Chicago Police District Councils

See meeting notes for details

www.chicago.gov

See Documenters reporting

Each of the 22 District Councils is made up of three people elected by residents of the police district in regular municipal elections every four years, though anyone can participate in District Council work, and the more people who participate, the more effective the District Councils can be. The first District Council elections occurred in February 2023. Just as Chicagoans vote for a mayor and a local ward Alderperson, they also vote for up to three people to serve on the District Council.

The District Councils have several key roles:

Building stronger connections between the police and the community at the district level, where the community is a true partner in making the neighborhood safer. They can work with the police to address problems and set priorities.
Collaborating in the development and implementation of community policing initiatives.
Holding monthly public meetings, where residents can work on local initiatives rooted in community concerns and priorities. They can also raise and work to address concerns about policing in the district, and increase accountability.
Working with the community to get input on police department policies and practices. Working to develop and expand restorative justice and similar programs in the police district.
Ensuring that the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability gets input from the community, so that the Commission’s work will be based on what people in neighborhoods across the city are concerned about.
Nominating members of the Community Commission. Anyone who serves on the Community Commission must first have the support of elected District Council members.

(Source: Municipal Code of Chicago, 2-80-070(a) and (e))

For a map of police districts, visit https://www.chicagocityscape.com/maps/index.php#/?places_type=chipolicedistrict.