This story was co-published in collaboration with The TRiiBE.
A budget breakdown of the $75 million in federal security funding Chicago received for the upcoming Democratic National Convention (DNC) shows that the Chicago Police Department (CPD) will get the vast majority of the funds. The Fire Department and the Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC) will also get some of the federal funding.
In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the Office of Budget and Management (OBM) provided The TRiiBE with a heavily redacted “Budget Detail and Budget Narrative” document.
The document includes a list of expenditures approved by the Department of Justice (DOJ), which granted the city the funds, and not a list of actual money spent on security measures, according to the OBM.
The document states that $26.7 million of the DOJ funds will be spent on personnel. Of that, more than $17.6 million is allocated to CPD for personnel, including operations and training, as well as regular and overtime pay.
The Fire Department will get $4.7 million for operational and personnel costs. The OEMC will receive nearly $800,000 for the event. Another $3.7 million is going toward personnel to “Asset Protection Personnel,” according to the budget document. In an emailed statement, the OBM said the Asset Protection Program “is typically a term used to describe strategies and measures implemented by governments to safeguard valuable assets from risks or loss.” However, OBM could not disclose whether the program is part of another agency or a standalone entity.
More than $79,000 of the DOJ funds is for unspecified “travel” expenses. Five hundred out-of-town police are expected to come to the city to help with DNC security efforts, but it’s unclear if the $79,000 will cover the pay and travel for the outside officers. The TRiiBE sent follow-up questions regarding the out-of-town officers, but a CPD spokesperson did not answer.
City officials expect large protests and significant logistical challenges surrounding the DNC, which will be held at the United Center and McCormick Place from August 19–22. Last month, the CPD and the Secret Service jointly announced security perimeters that will surround each site during the convention.
During a security briefing on July 25, CPD superintendent Larry Snelling said most outside police agencies providing additional officers for the DNC are in Illinois. However, he added that some would also come from out of state. The CPD has denied FOIA requests from Tribune reporter Sam Charles and Chicago Reader news editor Shawn Mulcahy that sought to determine how many out-of-town officers were coming to the city and where they would be coming from.
Snelling stated that the out-of-town officers would only patrol inside the security perimeters. During the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee last month, five Ohio police officers shot and killed a Black Milwaukee resident outside of that convention’s security perimeter and less than a mile from the convention center. Milwaukee officers are also expected to travel to Chicago for the event. It’s unclear whether any will come from Ohio.
“This man was having a mental health crisis and they came in with guns. They didn’t attempt to do any sort of de-escalation, and these are police officers [from] Columbus, Ohio. And they killed him,” Faayani Aboma Mijana, a spokesperson for the March on DNC Coalition, told The TRiiBE, speaking of the killing of the Milwaukee man. “We know that they’re a danger to us because, one, they’re not from here; they have no ties to the community. Not that CPD is any less dangerous, but [out-of-state officers] are not from here, and there’s no process to hold them accountable.”
Remel Terry, the vice president of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA), said residents near the United Center are more concerned about their long-term safety over the temporary security measures during the DNC.
“I think it’s just an ever-present thing that public safety is something important that we need to really get to the root causes of to address,” she said. “Can some of that be leveraged so everyday community residents feel that sense of security in their communities on a day-to-day basis?”
Investments in policing are expected to have a lasting impact, but the long-term effects of DNC-related beautification and tourism dollars on Black communities neighboring the United Center, such as Garfield Park, remain to be seen.
The Mayor’s Office told The TRiiBE that a community event is scheduled for August 8 to discuss how the DNC funds would be used in more detail.
Update August 8: A spokesperson told The TRiiBE Wednesday’s meeting has been rescheduled for next week. The event is being held to discuss how the DNC funds would be used in more detail.
In the budget document, more than $14.5 million is earmarked for unspecified “equipment.” The Mayor’s Office stated in an email to The TRiiBE that equipment will be kept as “permanent assets of the City.” Asked what equipment would be kept by Chicago, a spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office said they were unable to answer. CPD did not respond to questions about the security assets and the OBM said in an email that they were unable to discuss in detail at this time.
Freddy Martinez, executive director at the Lucy Parsons Labs, a nonprofit that advocates for transparency around surveillance tech, said Chicago residents can look at Milwaukee as an example of how Chicago will see security surveillance integrated into the city’s infrastructure.
Before the 2020 DNC in Milwaukee was converted into an online event due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Milwaukee Police Department prepared for the convention by purchasing new equipment, buying tech to track mobile phones and expanding the police department’s camera network. The surveillance technology has since stayed in the city.
According to the Brookings Institute, such technology enables “more precise discrimination” by law enforcement against marginalized groups such as Black people.
Ald. David Moore (17th Ward) introduced a new ordinance on acoustic gunshot technology in July after Mayor Brandon Johnson fulfilled one of his campaign promises by announcing he would end the contract with ShotSpotter by November. A 2021 analysis by the MacArthur Justice Center showed that, from July 2019 to April 2021, the technology led to over 40,000 dead-end police deployments with 86% leading to no reports of any crime. In February, a South Side Weekly investigation found CPD reported hundreds of missed shootings to ShotSpotter last year.
The heavily redacted OBM document also included nearly $20 million for unspecified “consultants/contracts” and $12 million for “supplies.”
In an email responding to The TRiiBE’s follow-up questions about the redacted document, an OBM spokesperson said, “We are unable to produce the unredacted portions you seek, because sharing this information could compromise response plans and details, as they reveal specifics about what type of personnel and non-personnel assets may be deployed, the locations they may be deployed, and the timing of their potential deployment.”
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office said they are still working out final details related to the DNC security funds.
Corli Jay is The TRiiBE’s community investment reporter.
