Politics
At 1st City Council Hearing on Consent Decree in 15 Months, No Sign of Urgency Around Reform Push
At the first Chicago City Council hearing into CPD’s efforts to comply with a court order requiring officers to stop routinely violating Black and Latino residents’ constitutional rights in 15 months, there was no sign any urgency surrounds the reform effort.
None of the alderpeople at the sparsely attended committee hearing, which lasted for approximately an hour, pressed Deputy Chief Ralph Cruz or Executive Director Allyson Clark-Henson of CPD’s Office of Constitutional Policing and Reform on why CPD had fully complied with just 16% of the court order known as the consent decree by the end of 2024.
Only Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th Ward) expressed frustration with the time it was taking for CPD to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers, as required by the now nearly six-and-a-half-year-old binding court order.
“This has been an unending process,” said Lopez, who frequently criticizes Mayor Brandon Johnson’s policies and initiatives. “We can’t keep throwing money at this.”
In all, the city set aside at least $887.6 million to implement the consent decree between 2020 and 2025, according to Chicago’s annual budget overviews.
By contrast, Ald. Derrick Curtis (18th Ward) said he was “excited” by the progress CPD has made in complying with the order, which was prompted by a 2017 federal investigation sparked by the police murder of Laquan McDonald in 2014.
“I think we’re reaching the goal,” Curtis said. “We’re headed in the right direction.”
Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th Ward) pressed Clark-Henson about efforts to fill the more than 250 positions in the police department charged with implementing the consent decree that were vacant in March.
Approximately 50 of those positions have been filled in recent months, Clark-Henson said, adding that police brass is working to ensure the right people are hired to complete the very technical and complicated work required by the consent decree.
CPD officials have failed to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by WTTW News as required by state law seeking a list of all 667 positions charged with implementing the consent decree. That information would allow the city’s vacancy dashboard to be used to pinpoint how many of those roles are empty.
The next report from the court-appointed team monitoring the city’s compliance with the consent decree is due by the end of October, while the next court hearing is scheduled for Aug. 12.
Even though the City Council passed an ordinance in 2020 requiring its Public Safety Committee to hold regular hearings into the pace of reforms, the last hearing took place in February 2024.
Thursday’s hearing was originally scheduled to take place on July 10. That session had to be canceled after less than half of the committee members showed up, making it impossible for the committee to conduct any business.
Note: This article was first published July 24, 2025, and updated with video July 28, 2025.
WTTW News coverage of policing and police reform is supported by The Joyce Foundation.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
