Operationalizing Community Policing
Client: Chicago Police Department | Partners: Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities,
Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
The Joyce Foundation
Opportunity
Community policing is a philosophy that emphasizes collaboration between police and the community to build trust and solve problems. The Chicago Police Department's (CPD) consent decree mandates that every CPD member – sworn officers and civilians – be responsible for making community policing a core component of its programs, training, resource deployment, and accountability systems.
In 2024 and 2025, Superintendent Larry Snelling committed that every member of CPD will be a community policing officer in his goals to the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA). While progress has been made to incorporate community policing strategies, CPD has identified two main challenges to fully operationalize Superintendent Snelling’s vision. First, the department needs to develop a cohesive vision for community policing. Second, current community policing programs are assigned to specific CPD members, which reinforces the perception that only those officers are responsible for implementing community policing goals.
Community policing is a shared focus of CCA clients, including the Partnership for Safe & Peaceful Communities, the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago’s Public Safety Task Force, and Mayor Brandon Johnson’s People’s Plan for Community Safety.
Action
To complete this assessment we:
Conducted and synthesized interviews and focus groups with nearly 150 members of CPD across all Bureaus, ranks and roles,
Designed and supported a citywide community input process so that residents across Chicago coul add their voices to the future of community policing at CPD,
Leveraged analysis of effective practices nationwide
Analyzed existing CPD policies, training regarding community policing as well as existing external reports and evaluations.
Starting in May 2024, Civic Consulting Alliance committed to a long-term project to provide overall project management for the community policing initiative and play a key role in building the strategy and roadmap that advances Superintendent Snelling’s goals for community policing.
We identified the key behaviors and mindsets required to fully operationalize the Superintendent’s vision for community policing for all CPD members and then analyzed the current state of the department’s community policing efforts, capturing gaps and redundancies and surfacing opportunities for improvement.
“Civic Consulting Alliance is a close partner in helping the Chicago Police Department strategize on the operational reforms and policy changes necessary to enhance the training and well-being of officers. By prioritizing these reforms, the officers will better be able to take care of the communities they serve.”
Impact
In spring 2026, Civic Consulting Alliance will release its recommendations for advancing community policing across CPD. Once the strategy for community policing is defined and validated, the next steps will be to support CPD in articulating a roadmap to implement this approach.
Operationalizing department-wide community policing is critical to the success of Superintendent Snelling’s vision for organizational excellence, meets a requirement of the 2019 Consent Decree for CPD, and aligns with collaborative community safety initiatives between the public, private, and philanthropic sectors. Ultimately, a CPD-wide approach to community policing will create a safer Chicago for those who live, work, and visit here.