Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced the City’s proposed investment in public safety reform. More than $27.4 million in the Mayor’s proposed budget will be devoted to police reform. The investment is an increase of $24 million over 2017 and will support initiatives such as enhanced training, reform implementation, officer wellness and community policing. “Lasting and meaningful reform is essential to strengthening trust between the police and the community they serve,” said Mayor Emanuel. “With this investment, the city of Chicago is making a down payment on police reform.”

The investments that Mayor Emanuel is making in CPD will make us a better agency for both our officers and the communities we serve,” said CPD First Deputy Superintendent Kevin Navarro. “Thanks to this crucial funding, CPD can continue its efforts to implement meaningful reforms and initiatives in the areas of training, technology, officer wellness and community policing, all of which will help us build public trust and make Chicago safer.” As part of a commitment to training, investments support CPD in implementing its new 16-hour in-service training requirement that will expand to 40 hours of mandatory training by 2021. Investments will ensure recruits get best in-class training, including:

• Training Assessments: consult with subject matter expert to assess recruit and in-service training, and partner on revisions to curriculum
• More Field Training Officers: 100 new Field Training Officers will be promoted to ensure the next generation of police officers get the best on-the-job training when they graduate from the Academy
• Learning Management System (LMS): an online training system to expand and extend training

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) came into being on September 15, 2017. Additional investments in 2018, will build a state of the art mediation program which will help amicably resolve complaints and lead to increased community trust.