‘I’m not going away any time soon’: Independent monitor updates consent decree amid criticism of Chicago police reform effort

As the Chicago Police Department works to come into compliance with court-ordered reforms, officials must address culture problems and make up a “trust deficit” in the community, according to an independent monitor reviewing the department.

Maggie Hickey, a former federal prosecutor and court-appointed monitor, on Monday spoke publicly about the state of the consent decree, which took effect in 2019 following a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into CPD after the killing of teenager Laquan McDonald by Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke. Her address offered a glimpse into the consent-decree work amid recent criticism from high-profile former officials who questioned the department’s willingness and ability to enact meaningful reform.

“I do think the policies are being reformed and that is maybe working a little quicker than the culture being reformed,” Hickey said, adding, “I’m not going away any time soon, unfortunately.”

Hickey spoke as part of a presentation by the Joyce Foundation, a Chicago-based nonprofit, which also included a panel discussion by Robert Boik, CPD’s executive director of constitutional policing and reform; Chicago Police Board President Ghian Foreman; and Cara Hendrickson, a former attorney with the Illinois Attorney General and executive director of a nonprofit that addresses structural racism.

When asked about the resignation of a Chicago police leader who wrote a letter to Mayor Lori Lightfoot condemning what he characterized as the department’s lack of interest in taking real steps to improve, Hickey said her team will be looking at those concerns.

Chad Williams, former civilian commanding officer of the department’s audit division, wrote to Lightfoot in August that he was leaving his role because of “the inability of this department’s top leadership to even feign interest in pursuing reform in a meaningful manner.” Susan Lee, a former top advisor to Lightfoot, also resigned in August, writing to the mayor of her concerns about whether the city could “keep moving the ball forward” on violence prevention and consent-decree reforms.

Hickey said work had to be done for the department even to achieve the preliminary compliance CPD has reached in just over 50% of the provisions her team has so far reviewed. But she said she believes the critics’ “higher level concern” is culture, and whether there is buy-in from members of the department.

Asked by a member of the public about officers who “vehemently” oppose reforms, Hickey said newly-enacted policies have to come with accountability, meaning officers who disregard policies should be disciplined.

“While you can’t change officers’ hearts and minds, you can change their behavior,” she said.

Hickey also gave an overview of her team’s most recent report on the department’s consent-decree progress, which noted that CPD increased its rate of compliance but criticized flawed data on police foot pursuits.

She spoke about some of department’s achievements, such as delivering refresher training for crisis intervention officers, but also addressed some enduring struggles, primarily accurate data collection and building trust with the community.

“In the fast-paced technology world we live in, CPD has not been able to keep up with how they keep their data,” she said.

And regarding community engagement, Boik, speaking on behalf of CPD, said the department needs to do a better job of “going to where people are” rather than asking people to come to them. That could mean efforts like getting out of patrol cars and walking through neighborhoods on foot, he said.

“We have a long way to go when it comes to really building trust,” he said. “The effort is still in its infancy.”

As reform work continues, Hickey estimated that it could take seven or eight years in total for the department to meet the requirements of the consent decree.

mabuckley@chicagotribune.com