Civilian Office of Police Accountability Consent Decree Implementation
In late 2014, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) faced intense public criticism in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald by a CPD officer. The shooting spurred protests across the city and prompted the City of Chicago and the U.S. Department of Justice to examine practices within CPD.
As one result of these investigations, in January 2019, the City of Chicago and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office entered into a Consent Decree mandating changes to operations, training, and documentation of work at both CPD and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA).
In 2018, with the anticipated Consent Decree effective date fast approaching, COPA needed to:
Determine how its current policies and practices matched Consent Decree mandates;
Assign and prioritize the work necessary to reach a state of full compliance; and
Begin the process for demonstrating compliance to the federally-appointed Consent Decree Monitor.
Between August and December 2018, Civic Consulting Alliance and pro bono partner Sidley Austin:
Conducted an initial evaluation of COPA’s compliance with the anticipated Consent Decree between the Illinois Attorney General and the City of Chicago; and
Collaborated with COPA leadership to prioritize and assign the work necessary to reach a state of full compliance by the effective date of the anticipated Consent Decree.
“Given the complexity and importance of our reform work, we couldn’t have completed this first phase without the help of the Civic Consulting Alliance and their partners. We are grateful to be able to leverage the expertise and excellence of the private sector as we seek to evolve the Department.”
OUTPUTS
25 Implementation Plans to help leadership prioritize work to reach full compliance
OUTCOMES
When the Consent Decree was finalized on January 31, 2019, COPA was in compliance with the 24 immediately-required mandates—out of 83 total—and on the path to meeting the remaining 59 mandates by the end of 2020
