Our Hopes for the New CPD Superintendent
On August 13, Mayor Brandon Johnson selected Chicago Police Department (CPD) Counterterrorism Chief Larry Snelling as the next police superintendent for Chicago. Mayor Johnson’s selection comes after a nationwide search by the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA), including monthly public meetings to gather community input on desired qualities of the police superintendent. Here is our statement in response to the selection of Larry Snelling.
Community Renewal Society is committed to police accountability and addressing the systemic and systematic presence of racism and discriminatory biases inherent in our policing systems. It is our hope that the newly appointed CPD Superintendent, Englewood native and current CPD Counterterrorism Chief Larry Snelling, will continue the practice of engaging the very communities he is entrusted with as a leader and servant. In that spirit, we implore Chief Snelling to prioritize engaging with Community Renewal Society, our member congregations and coalition partners who are committed to enforcing the 2019 Consent Decree.
Further, we call upon Chief Snelling to welcome community oversight and engagement in his articulated goals to cultivate a space of healing and trust. Chief Snelling said he hopes to restore the morale of CPD officers and added, “In order for our officers to love someone else, we have to love them.” Respectfully, on behalf of the communities CPD has sworn to serve and protect, how can we expect the community to love and trust its officers if they don’t believe officers care about them?
We expect career professionals from all walks of life, including educators, medical professionals and clergy, to demonstrate compassion, dignity and honor in their work. Sometimes it is thankless, but there is a decorum we should be able to count on as persons in their care. Citizens certainly have this right if not hope and expectation with police officers.
Civilians do not have the same power and privilege as police officers carrying weapons. It is our hope that the new Superintendent will use this period of transition to emphasize the critical need to eradicate racist and other cultural biases implicitly and explicitly present in the CPD as detailed in the 2017 Department of Justice findings that brought the 2019 Consent Decree. The morale of officers may indeed need to be repaired, but it is dangerous and misleading to align that with the community not “loving” the police.
Quite the contrary, the behavior of those officers who use the power and privilege of the badge to marginalize and harm (sometimes fatally) citizens is a part of that breach of trust for all of us. Our hope is that the new Superintendent will be courageous in this moment and take steps to immediately relieve officers from duty that abuse power and bring harm to our communities. Such abuse of power is also harmful to the badge citizens are called to support and love.
Be courageous in this moment and insist on placing the sanctity of life first so that human lives are protected and honored, and not stolen. Chief Snelling should emphasize to officers to take responsibility for cultivating change and earning community trust by serving in love and first valuing human life.
We applaud the CCPSA, its leadership and the host of citizens who have and will continue to attend public safety hearings and who call for strengthening police oversight and accountability. The work of this commission is driven by the powerful voices of the community, including members of CRS’ network of congregations. We are grateful and recognize this work does not end with the Superintendent’s appointment.
Chief Snelling has committed to “enhancing ties with the community” and “strengthening bonds of trust between police and community,” which we support through police accountability, enforcement of the current Consent Decree, mandatory race and cultural awareness trainings, inclusion of community leaders at the table towards progress and true community oversight. We hope the call to action by the people will resonate loudly in Snelling’s heart, mind and spirit and serve to be integral in his agenda on day one and beyond.
Here are ways you can take action to build police accountability.