moderated by WBEZ’s Alden Loury
Mecole Jordan-McBride, Anthony Driver and Robert Boik
Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Category: Uncategorized
Most would readily agree that public safety is important to all of Chicago’s residents and stakeholders regardless of the neighborhood. But perhaps just as importantly, we should agree everyone deserves the same level—and type—of support and investment from the Chicago Police Department and other city services to ensure that our communities are thriving and healthy.
The Chicago Neighborhood Policing Initiative (CNPI), currently being piloted in 10 CPD districts, is an intensive neighborhood-based policing philosophy that emphasizes relationship-building and focuses on the top priorities of community members. CNPI restructures patrol assignments and deployment practices in each district, requiring time off the radio for District Coordination Officers (DCOs) and beat officers to build relationships with community members and work with the community to develop solutions for chronic public safety concerns. CNPI ensures that community policing is not the focus of a subset of police officers in the department, rather every officer in the department works through the lens of creating positive community outcomes.
On Wednesday February 1, 2023, the City Club of Chicago hosted an event – Chicago at a Crossroads: The Future of Community Policing. This well attended and timely panel discussion focused on the dire importance of community policing in Chicago and across the country, it was moderated by Laura Washington. The panelists, Andrew Papachristos – faculty director of CORNERS, Mecole Jordan-McBride – Community Director of Chicago Neighborhood Policing Initiative, Roseanna Ander – Executive Director of UChicago Crime Lab, and Michael Milstein – Deputy Director of Community Policing at the Chicago Police Department, discussed the state of community policing in Chicago and what Chicago leadership must take into consideration to achieve public safety outcomes in Chicago moving forward.
We invite you to click here to listen to the discussion.
The brutal murder of Tyre Nichols by five Memphis police officers is another in a long line of lives gone too soon at the hands of those sworn to protect and serve. For decades, communities of color have borne the brunt of a broken police system. Yet, even now, with the normalization of body-worn cameras and other recording devices, senseless murders and other egregious policing practices are occurring for the world to witness.
The seemingly blatant disregard for the safety of some community members in cities, even beyond Memphis, raises hard questions:
- Are we enacting reform fast enough?
- What reforms go far enough?
- Is this the product of bad policy, poor training, or systemic failure?
- Is the safety of communities of color truly a priority?
We are in a crisis. In major cities across the country, violence is far too high and police agencies are struggling with retention and recruitment. It is widely accepted that public safety cannot be achieved with the police alone, but rather community members, city leadership, and the police must work together to create thriving, safe communities. But this kind of partnership will not happen without trust…and trust will not be built without police agencies being deliberate about working with the communities they serve. Trust-building goes beyond coffee house meetings and police-led basketball teams. Building trust begins with being intentional about seeking input from community members about how the police serve their communities, being responsive to the needs of community members, and being transparent about what officers are doing in the community.
In Chicago, there are many working diligently to achieve better safety outcomes for our communities. We are hoping that through key accountability channels, every community in the city can work in partnership with the police to create the safe and thriving neighborhoods that everyone deserves.
Right now the country finds itself at yet another inflection point. It is past time that police agencies begin asking the hard questions about how their agencies are working with and not imposing upon the communities they serve, and what policy and accountability measures will facilitate this work.
There is an ever-growing cry for justice, not just for Tyre Nichols and the other Black and Brown families and their communities that have been directly impacted by these terrible wrongs… but for every community that seeks to be free from harm. Because no one is safe until we are all safe.
By Mecole Jordan-McBride
Every year parents search for the right balance between allowing their children to have a fun-filled Halloween while still keeping them safe. This year, the 25th District’s CNPI Community Ambassador Coalition wanted to help provide that balance. With support from Chicago Police Department’s CNPI District Coordinating Officers and district leadership, the ambassadors co-hosted the annual Trunk or Treat event with CPD’s 25th District.
Rosario Villalobos, a community leader in District Coordinating Area #3, went to work leading a gargantuan effort to bring out dozens of sponsors, including: 30th Ward Ald. Ariel Reyboras, 31st Ward Ald. Felix Cardona Jr., Conexion Cafe, Cook Brothers Department Store, DJ Julian Jumpin Perez, the Dulcelandia Candy Store, the Helen & Joe Foundation, Hermosa Medical & Diagnostics, Home Depot, JVNA Solutions LLC, Ruth Torres, Stock & Save and Walmart.
The night of the event, the station parking lot at CPD’s 25th District was packed with cars decorated in the Halloween spirit and their trunks filled with treats for all of the families in attendance. Kids and their families were decked out in their favorite Halloween costumes and enjoyed popcorn, tacos, a game truck and even a special appearance by the CPD helicopter — a treat the kids thoroughly enjoyed. A great time was had by all and, most importantly, the event was safe!
CNPI is an effective community-police strategy designed to create positive public safety outcomes. This event is one example of how CNPI’s efforts build strong partnerships between stakeholders and CPD that benefit the community at large.
By Mecole Jordan-McBride
It is city budget season: the time when all city departments present and defend their budgets for the upcoming year.
For the Chicago Police Department, there is particular interest in two primary and interrelated priorities: public safety and community/police relationships. This week during the Chicago Police Department budget hearings held by both the Chicago City Council and the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, CPD Superintendent David Brown expressed commitment to the implementation of the Chicago Neighborhood Policing Initiative as one of the department’s core strategies for engaging community members and increasing public safety.
CNPI is a comprehensive approach to ensure that community voice is central in CPD’s public safety strategy. This approach requires all officers to work in partnership with community members to create safer neighborhoods.
During the CCPSA special meeting on CPD’s budget, Commissioner Anthony Driver commented on the positive response to CNPI from city alderman and CPD’s goal of expanding CNPI through all 22 police districts by 2023. Commissioner Driver questioned CPD’s capacity to support the staffing needs of CNPI across all CPD districts. A fair question, as fully implementing CNPI will require more beat officers in each district. However, the increase in patrol officers should equate to more officers walking the beat, addressing public safety concerns that are important the community members, and partnering with community leaders to implement community safety strategies.
This is ideal, because CNPI believes that every officer is a community police officer.
But the Chicago Police Department is only half of the story.
For CNPI to be effective citywide, it requires community participation. Chicagoans from all walks of life must come together as neighbors to create safer neighborhoods. We have to work together, in partnership with CPD, other Chicago city services and agencies, and other community partners to create the thriving communities we both want and deserve.
To learn more about how community members are working together and partnering with CPD in the current CNPI districts, please sign-up for our newsletter to be kept up to date.
You want to join the conversation in your district? Let us know.
You want to see what community leaders and CPD District Coordination Officers are doing? Follow us on social media here: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.
By Mecole Jordan-McBride
This past summer community leaders and the Chicago Neighborhood Policing Initiative (CNPI) organized “Operation Safe Pump” in the 3rd and 6th districts to raise awareness about carjackings at gas stations.
With Chicago on pace for 1,960 carjackings by year end, a level six times higher than just eight years ago, the CNPI is focused on ways to prevent future carjackings.
At the Operation Safe Pump events, community members and CNPI District Coordination Officers (DCOs) spoke with gas station owners about ways to help make their stations a safer place for the community, including installing better lighting at night and not allowing loitering on the premises. Gas station patrons received fliers with information about safety and ways in which to contact the DCOs in the district.
Positive loitering events like Operation Safe Pump allow a community to combat violent crimes before they happen and take back public spaces in their neighborhoods. CNPI is partnering with communities to make this happen.
“CNPI is grounded in the principle that public safety is the responsibility of everyone who works and lives in the neighborhood – that we are safer when we communicate effectively and work together,” said Mecole Jordan-McBride, CNPI Community Director.
This summer, the Chicago Neighborhood Policing Initiative community engagement team supported nearly 40 community events, reaching hundreds of community members across 10 CPD districts. Some of these events included community clean-ups, positive loitering in areas with high public safety concerns, community cook-outs, and sharing information and resources through street fairs and community walks.
At many of these events, CNPI DCOs and other CPD officers actively participated, meeting residents and passing out their business cards to connect with the community. They had the opportunity to hear directly from community members about chronic public-safety concerns and begin the process of co-developing ideas to make the neighborhood safer.
To learn about the latest CNPI events in your community, follow us on Facebook.
To learn more about preventing carjackings or submit tips in carjacking cases (including uploading video, photos and other potential evidence to help investigators), go to the Chicago Vehicular Carjacking Task Force website.