Mayor Lightfoot and CPD expand neighborhood policing initiative to three more districts
Chicago, Ill. Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot and Chicago Police Department (CPD) Superintendent David O. Brown announced the expansion of the Neighborhood Policing Initiative to the 9th (Deering), 10th (Ogden) and 11th (Harrison) District. As part of the expanded initiative, each district will rollout new District Coordination Officers (DCOs) this fall, who will work directly with community members to resolve public safety issues through collaboration and remedy neighborhood issues with the help of beat officers, detectives, aldermen, area businesses and sister agencies. To ensure DCOs are fully integrated in the neighborhoods they serve, the Department is also launching a new community-immersion training program, completing one of Mayor Lightfoot’s 90-day reforms announced in early June.
“As public servants, our first mission is ensuring the safety and security of our residents and communities, and that’s a mission not built on force, but on a foundation of trust. That’s why the Neighborhood Policing Initiative is designed to connect residents with their local officers by developing relationships and solving public safety issues together,” said Mayor Lightfoot. “As part of our 90-day community policing and reform deadline we set earlier this summer, these new officers participating in this initiative will be specially trained by neighborhood residents to not only formally connect them to the specific dynamics within their community but also deepen their understanding of key historical factors related to policing in that district.”