Join us!

The Chicago Council on Mental Health Equity (CCMHE) meetings will be held quarterly on a selected Monday at 12:30 pm in the months of February, April, July and November. The meetings will be held virtually (until further notice) via the secure web-based platform Zoom.

Public Comment Period:

• Any person who wishes to address the CCMHE during the public comment period, must email a request to CCMHE@cityofchicago.org no less than 24 hours prior to the start of the next scheduled meeting. Those who submit a request to speak will receive a confirmation email in response.
  • Anyone who wishes to address the CCMHE must be available at the scheduled start time of the meeting and audibly heard through the virtual web-based platform. The public comment period is limited to 30 minutes overall, with each participant limited to 3 minutes, so there is no assurance that every person who emails will have an opportunity to speak. Each speaker will be limited to the subject matter on the agenda and one opportunity to speak.
• Public comments may also be emailed to CCMHE@cityofchicago.org no later than one hour prior to the start of the next scheduled meeting. Public comment sent by email will be emailed to the members of CCMHE to review during the meeting.

Upcoming 2023 meetings 

Please contact CCMHE@cityofchicago.org for more information. The agenda and the Zoom link will be posted no later than 48 hours prior to the next scheduled meeting.

Foot Pursuit Policy Overview

The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is creating a foot pursuit policy –the first for the City.  CPD believes an effective foot pursuit policy requires meaningful community engagement from residents and stakeholders across the City. To address the immediate need, CPD has published an interim foot pursuit policy, which will remain in place while deeper community engagement is conducted.

The community engagement period has concluded and CPD is conducting an analysis of the feedback provided which will inform revisions to the interim foot pursuit policy. From mid-June through July 2021, CPD sought input through a public comment period on the interim policy and provided a survey for residents to provide anonymous feedback. CPD also hosted two virtual community conversations and deliberative dialogues with community groups and organizations. 

CPD anticipates publishing a draft of its updated foot pursuit policy in early August, where it will be open for public comment for 15 days. Following any additional revisions, CPD anticipates implementing the updated policy in early September and will release a public report detailing the engagement process, summary of community feedback and steps it’s taken to inform policy revisions.  

About the Policy

Background

In 2017, the United States Department of Justice concluded a yearlong civil rights investigation into the Chicago Police Department. The investigation revealed the need for significant reforms to address deficiencies within the nation’s second-largest police department, including eliminating discriminatory policing.

This led a federal judge to authorize a consent decree, which was approved on January 31, 2019. Among the many requirements, the consent decree mandated the Department gather information about foot pursuits for the Independent Monitoring Team (IMT).

On March 5, 2021, upon review of the data, the IMT determined a foot pursuit policy was necessary. The Department immediately began working on a draft policy based on best practices from major cities throughout the country.

CPD conducted a review of available data on foot pursuits from April 2019 to December 2019. The findings include:

• Chicago police officers engaged in an average of seven foot pursuits per day during this nine-month period. 

• Throughout this same period, an officer reported an injury as a result of a foot pursuit, on average once per day.

• Approximately one out of five foot pursuits during this time frame resulted in an arrest.

• Half of all foot pursuits occurred between 4 pm and midnight.

• About a quarter of all foot pursuits reported during this time period were associated with a use of force incident — an example might include an officer having to tackle a fleeing suspect.

Policy Highlights

• The new foot pursuit policy reminds officers to begin any interaction with tactics meant to reduce the possibility of a foot pursuit.
• Tactics to avoid a foot pursuit include: continual communication with a subject and encouraging officers to position themselves in such a way to reduce the opportunity for a foot chase.
• The circumstances also must be considered before any foot pursuit takes place. Officers need to ask themselves is the need to apprehend the subject worth the risk to responding officers, the public, or the subject.
• The policy also spells out that foot pursuits are only appropriate when it is believed an individual has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime or there is probable cause for an arrest.
• Foot pursuits can no longer be initiated for criminal offenses less than a Class A misdemeanor, according to the new policy.
• Foot pursuits also must be discontinued if someone is injured and requires immediate medical assistance; if officers are unaware of their location; and if the need to apprehend the subject is not worth the risk to responding officers, the public, or the subject.
• Supervisors can also instruct officers to discontinue a foot pursuit at any time.
• All officers are required to notify the Office of Emergency Management and Communications of a foot pursuit and will activate their body-worn cameras to record the entire incident.

Virtual Webinar

CPD held a live webinar to review the policy and answer questions from the public on June 1. 

Watch the recorded webinar here.