January 16
In a thirty-five-minute meeting, the Chicago Police Board heard from five public commenters; the Civilian Office of Police Accountability’s (COPA) first deputy chief administrator, Ephraim Eaddy; and chief of CPD’s Bureau of Internal Affairs (BIA), Yolanda Talley. Public commenters offered their thoughts on the need to reduce police violence, a plea from an individual for the Board to intervene in a police matter on his behalf, and a statement honoring officers killed in the line of duty. Chief Eaddy reported that of 301 cases reviewed by COPA, seventy-six were determined to fall under COPA’s responsibility and 225 under BIA’s. He also reported that in connection with a shooting by police on January 3, COPA responded within an hour to meet with concerned community members. COPA plans to announce its goals for 2025 shortly. Chief Talley updated the Board on progress in reducing homicides and plans to expand victim support by adding more family liaison officers.
January 22
The Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners opened its meeting by approving a resolution honoring district retirees “for their years of dedication and commitment to the [district] and to the citizens of the City of Chicago” and wishing them “good health and happiness as they enter the next chapter of their lives.” The Board learned details of the district’s Healthy Heart Campaign, which is being conducted on Thursdays in February in partnership with the Department of Public Health. The campaign offers free heart and blood pressure screenings at five parks on the South and West Sides. Locations were determined based on the low life expectancy of community residents. Items on the Board’s consent agenda included approving the appointment of Robert Castaneda to the Public Building Commission of Chicago and approval of the 2024 and 2025 certificates of filing and of publication of the district’s supplemental appropriation ordinance with Cook and DuPage counties. Designed to streamline meetings, consent agendas typically consist of routine items approved under a single motion and vote. Castaneda founded and is executive director of Beyond the Ball, a youth community development organization located in Little Village.
January 24
During a meeting and listening session hosted by the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, a public commenter described being handcuffed and beaten by Chicago police during a traffic stop. The commission began organizing a series of community listening sessions across the city in December 2023 so Chicagoans could relate personal interactions with police, provide feedback on policies, and discuss potential reforms for the CPD traffic-stop procedures. Groups such as the Free2Move Coalition and Impact for Equity have called on CPD to end pretextual traffic stops. Police might make such stops for minor infractions as a way to search a vehicle for evidence of a crime. “Investigatory stops that target Black and Latino young people disproportionately are on the rise as CPD hunts for guns,” said Ali Longbottom, a member of the Free2Move Coalition and the Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts. “Pretextual vehicle stops don’t serve the people CPD claims to protect.” Although CPD is required by law to document all stops, an investigation by Injustice Watch and Bolts found that in 2023 nearly 200,000 traffic stops were not documented or reported to the state.
January 28
Amid concerns about the City’s Ineligible for Rehire (IFR) policy, members of the City Council Committee on Ethics and Government Oversight at their meeting heard a presentation by the commissioner of the Department Human Resources (DHR), Sandra Blakemore. She explained clarifications to the policy that were made last year and how DHR, the Office of Inspector General, and Law Department are developing improvements they hope to complete during the first three months of this year. Created in 2011, the IFR policy identifies previous city employees who may not be rehired, usually for violating city personnel or department-specific rules of conduct. Although DHR oversees the system housing these records and manages appeals, department heads determine whether former employees are placed on the list. Council members have critiqued the policy for being subjective. Ald. Gil Villegas (36th Ward) said that more specific outlines should be developed to clarify which actions warrant IFR designation. After winning an appeal, two city staffers were removed from the list in December. They had been put on the list in 2023 by the former director of the Mayor’s communications office, Ronnie Reese.
January 30
“Our students should not be living in fear. They should not be choosing between getting an education [and] being safe,” said Board Member Yesenia Lopez at a meeting of the Board of Education. Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez assured the Board that schools are following established procedures and policies that prohibit sharing information about students or parents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and prevent ICE agents from entering schools without an appropriate warrant. A recent incident of misidentification at Hamline Elementary School in Back of the Yards sparked community reaction. Two U.S. Secret Service agents, misidentified as ICE agents, were turned away at the school. They were looking for a child who had allegedly posted an anti-Trump video, according to news reports. In light of rising fears of ICE activity in Chicago, Martinez reported that student attendance had declined on January 22 after a four-day weekend. “School is where every child in our city belongs regardless of their immigration status,” said Martinez, who urged parents to bring their children to school.
February 1
Controversy around a police district council member, David Orlikoff, continued at a meeting of
14th Police District Council, which includes parts of Logan Square, Humboldt Park, and Wicker Park. Calls for Orlikoff to resign “are intensifying,” according to City Bureau Newswire. At that meeting, Orlikoff seemed to offer to resign, saying, “In terms of the movement versus me, I would love to step down if any of you are interested in taking my position.” The “movement” apparently refers to efforts to pursue police accountability, which was a key reason for establishing the district councils. “My view of the movement is that unity is key,” Frank Chapman, a leader in the effort to establish the councils, told South Side Weekly. “When you’re doing things that are creating disunity…I don’t consider you to be respectful of the movement that you say you’re in.” There are twenty-two elected three-member councils, one for each CPD district. In December, nineteen members of thirteen councils signed a letter asking Orlikoff to leave his position, stating that “your role on the district council places you at the forefront of accountability and safety efforts. It is therefore critical that you reflect the values of restorative justice and community trust.” Council Chair Christopher M. Laurent has said, “I think you [Orlikoff] do great work, but we can’t get the confidence of the community behind us.”
This information was collected and curated by the Weekly in large part using reporting from City Bureau’s Documenters at documenters.org.