[remote or in person] 24th Police District Council - Rogers Park/West Ridge/Edgewater Glen

Chicago Police District Councils

Criminal Justice

Sunday, May 19, 2024
3:00 p.m. — 4:30 p.m. CDT

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6000 N Broadway Ave, Chicago, Illinois 60660 Chicago, IL 60660 (Directions)

Chicago Public Library - Edgewater Branch

You have the option to attend this meeting in person or remotely.

If you attend in person, you will receive an additional hour of pay. PLEASE DOUBLE CHECK the meeting details on the day of your assignment, as dates and locations sometimes change.

If you plan to attend remotely, register ahead of time for the Zoom link at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZErfuGqrzMuGdRXxEyjMYWoy3gkzktYowRU#/registration. Never post a Zoom meeting link on social media, as this can attract bad actors and bots to the meeting. Instead, you can share the registration link.

Pre-Research Resources

24th PDC links: https://linktr.ee/24thdistrictcouncil
City Bureau: “Can the Neighbors We Elect to Police District Councils Redefine Public Safety?”
City Bureau” “Chicago’s New Police District Councils, 4 Months In”
Find My Beat and District: Interactive map of police district boundaries
Chicago Reader/Block Club Chicago: Information about the candidates who ran for this council in the municipal elections
The TRiiBE: “ECPS coalition wins a wide majority of Chicago’s new Police District Council seats”

Check the source website for additional information

Reporting

Edited and summarized by the Chicago - IL Documenters Team

Live reporting by Chitra Iyer

24th PDC discusses data around responding to domestic violence calls

Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer

Happy Sunday Chicago! Today, I’ll be covering the 24th Police District Council’s monthly public meeting for @CHIdocumenters #CHIdocumenters

03:08 PM May 19, 2024 CDT

Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 2/38

This meeting was set to start at 3pm at Edgewater Public Library (and zoom), and a public notice/agenda can be found here:

chicago.gov/content/dam/ci…

Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 3/38

As of 3:08, Veronica I. Arreola (the chair) will be participating via zoom and is present, but is waiting for Marilyn Pagan-Banks (part of the nominating committee) to get started.

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More information on the 24th District Council can be found here:
Their Facebook page:
Instagram:

linktr.ee/24thdistrictco… facebook.com/24thdistrictco… instagram.com/24thdistrictco…

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It is 3:19 and the meeting has been called to order

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In July 2021, the Chicago City Council passed an ordinance which created the CCPSA, as well as 22 District Councils; each represents a different police district, and is intended to improve policing and public safety within the district.

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The 24th district comprises Rogers Park, West Ridge, and Edgewater Glen.
More information on the District Council’s roles can be found here:

chicago.gov/city/en/depts/…

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Broadly, they hope to increase public safety and strengthen police oversight + accountability by building stronger connections between CPD and the community through monthly public meetings

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“residents can work on local initiatives rooted in community concerns and priorities…[and] raise and work to address concerns about policing in the district” and getting input on CPD policies/practices

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Each District Council consists of three people elected by residents of the police district every four years. The 24th District Council currently consists of Veronica I. Arreola (Chair) @veronicaeye and Marilyn Pagan-Banks (Nominating Committee) @mujerdediosMPB

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Learn more about them at these links:

chicagoreader.com/2023-police-di… chicagoreader.com/2023-police-di…

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As of March 31, District Council Member Edvette Jones resigned from his position on the Council. Thus, the 24th District Council also has a vacancy; the deadline to apply for this has recently been extended to May 26th, 2024. More information here:

facebook.com/24thdistrictco…

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Roll call occurs and quorum is established. Contradicting the published agenda, there is no public comment period.

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Counselor Arreola begins by reporting on a recent meeting. She describes the statistics around car thefts in the 24th District

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Data shows these thefts overwhelmingly involve Hyundai and Kia vehicles. Arreola reminds owners to get a software update for their car, or a steering wheel lock. More data/preventative measures are described in the links below-

cbsnews.com/chicago/news/c… chicago.suntimes.com/news/2024/05/0…

Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 16/38

Next up is a presentation from @cmbwnthenetwork, a group of 40+ member orgs dedicated to improving the lives of those impacted by gender-based violence via education, advocacy, public policy, and connecting community members w/ direct service providers.

the-network.org

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The presentation is about gender based violence, especially as it pertains to the 24th District. The two speakers are Megan Merrill from The Network and Susan Pieters from @Between_Friends, a nonprofit agency dedicated to supporting survivors and breaking the cycle of abuse

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This comprehensive presentation starts with a overview on domestic violence, how to recognize it, and how to help survivors. It also covers Chicagoland resources/referrals available to survivors and their loved ones.

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However, at 3:46, the the battery died on the District Council’s laptop, and the presentation abruptly ended to zoom participants (though it continued live).

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Counselor Arreola apologizes for the delay, and commits to staying on the zoom call, but is unsure when remote coverage will resume. She says she "understands if anyone needs to leave" but has no further information.

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At 3:56, the District Council's laptop is miraculously resurrected, and zoom coverage resumes!

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At 4:02, the presenter attempts to segue to areas of collaboration between residents of the 24th district, the 24th District Council, and the gender-based violence services community.
At this moment, Counselor Pagan-Banks chooses to pause the presentation, requesting a time check

Chitra Iyer @ChittyIyer 23/38

It should be noted that the agenda for this open meeting does not stipulate an end time. The meeting also began 18 minutes late.
Also, this was a regular open meeting- not closed. This contradicted the rational given for skipping the public comment period.
(agenda posted above)

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The presenter requests an additional ten minutes- this request is approved by Counselor Arreola. The presentation resumes.

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The rest of the presentation covered the data behind domestic violence reports made in the 24th district, and areas for collaboration and improvement.

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For example, based on the City of Chicago's violence reduction dashboard (link below), between 2022-23 the number of DV reports show minimal change

chicago.gov/city/en/sites/…

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However, service providers report that only 6% of survivors have involved police. According to the presenter, "these numbers may look pretty good, but they're only scratching the surface"

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The speaker mentions that CPD was the least common referral source for calls to the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline from the 24th district- at only 8%. She suggests an area for improvement where the CPD does better in providing referrals to the network of DV service providers.

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There were 983 contact from 24th to the hotline in 2023, reflecting a range of races and languages and underscoring the needs for cultural competency in responding to these calls. There has also been a 40% increase in callers between 2022 and 2023

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"19 contacts reported that they already had an order of protection, and 4 had one against the same abuser." Moreover, "out of 221, 194 callers reported they had children, and 8 reported being pregnant. 3 contacts said they were minors, including one caller under age 12."

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“Though Rogers Park is a hub for the LGBTQ+ community, only 16 contacts volunteered that they were something other than straight..."

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"This reflects an opportunity for improvement, because this community experiences DV at higher rates than straight cisgender people.
Are they not comfortable reporting, or are they not being reached?"

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Additionally, LGBTQ+ clients face more barriers in accessing help
"there were 5,046 cases of lesbian, gay, and transgender (LGBT) related domestic violence in a national nine region area including Chicago"

chicago.gov/city/en/depts/… chicago.gov/city/en/depts/…

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In October of 2023, the hotline also began asking callers about whether there was a risk of firearm violence by their intimate partners. Just "in the last quarter of 2023, we received 8 calls from survivors facing risk of firearm violence."

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Finally, the speaker covered the needs reported by 24th District hotline callers. 41% mentioned the need for safe shelter. However, the state is currently not equipped to meet this need, and are often forced to turn survivors away.

chicago.suntimes.com/chicago/2024/0…

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This presentation is concluded (within the allotted ten minute grace period) with a call to action, for the 24th District to act upon the goals that it shares with the gender-based violence services community.

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Finally, Counselor Arreola concludes the meeting with a reminder to apply for the 24th District Counselor vacancy. The next meeting is announced for June 23rd, but the location is not disclosed. The Zoom meeting is closed at 4:18pm.

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Thank you, Chicago- hope you're having an excellent start to your week! This concludes my coverage on the 24th Police District Council's Public Meeting. For more meeting coverage, check out

chicago.documenters.org

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Agency Information

Chicago Police District Councils

See meeting notes for details

www.chicago.gov

See Documenters reporting

Each of the 22 District Councils is made up of three people elected by residents of the police district in regular municipal elections every four years, though anyone can participate in District Council work, and the more people who participate, the more effective the District Councils can be. The first District Council elections occurred in February 2023. Just as Chicagoans vote for a mayor and a local ward Alderperson, they also vote for up to three people to serve on the District Council.

The District Councils have several key roles:

Building stronger connections between the police and the community at the district level, where the community is a true partner in making the neighborhood safer. They can work with the police to address problems and set priorities.
Collaborating in the development and implementation of community policing initiatives.
Holding monthly public meetings, where residents can work on local initiatives rooted in community concerns and priorities. They can also raise and work to address concerns about policing in the district, and increase accountability.
Working with the community to get input on police department policies and practices. Working to develop and expand restorative justice and similar programs in the police district.
Ensuring that the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability gets input from the community, so that the Commission’s work will be based on what people in neighborhoods across the city are concerned about.
Nominating members of the Community Commission. Anyone who serves on the Community Commission must first have the support of elected District Council members.

(Source: Municipal Code of Chicago, 2-80-070(a) and (e))

For a map of police districts, visit https://www.chicagocityscape.com/maps/index.php#/?places_type=chipolicedistrict.