Latest report on Chicago Police Department reform efforts shows slow progress

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Five years of work aimed at reforming Chicago's police department, and there's little to show for it.

That was the latest conclusion in a newly-filed federal court assessment of CPD's consent decree, which was put in place in 2019.

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When teenager Laquan McDonald was shot and killed by Chicago police in 2014, the incident prompted U.S. Justice Department intervention and a court-mandated consent decree to overhaul the CPD, which had a decades-long pattern and practice of civil rights violations.

However, more than five years since the consent decree was implemented, newly-filed federal court documents on Friday reveal that the department remains in full compliance with only 7% of the items needing reform, and that there has been no forward movement since the ABC7 I-Team last reported on reforms early this summer.

"The one person who can make all of that go, and go more swiftly, is the mayor," said Joe Ferguson, the former Chicago Inspector General and now director of the Civic Federation.

Ferguson told the I-Team Mayor Brandon Johnson could ensure that the court-imposed reforms are carried out faster and more effectively but isn't, even though Johnson, in his first term as mayor, is a self-proclaimed reformer.

"It's not simply a matter of the buck stopping, it's actually a question of whether there's obstacles that are coming from City Hall," Ferguson said.

In a statement to the I-Team, the mayor's office said it's "currently reviewing the [consent decree] assessment and remains strong in its commitment to bringing the City of Chicago within full compliance of the consent decree."

The office did not respond to questions about two important jobs within the CPD that are waiting to be filled, which could go a long way toward achieving reform, Ferguson said.

"Here's two positions that are vacant: The First Deputy and the Deputy Superintendent for Constitutional Policing," Ferguson said. "We're not even staffing the leadership that Larry Snelling needs to move the needle, and that is not Larry Snelling's fault. That is the fault of City Hall."

A spokesperson for CPD would not comment on whether the positions remain open, only saying that it is still "reviewing this [consent decree] assessment."

Ferguson told the I-Team, "You can't drive change when you do not even get to fulfill your leadership team that is necessary to do that."