Mayor Johnson reversing plans to slash funding for Chicago police consent decree positions in budget

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Mayor Brandon Johnson is changing his tune on budget cuts that could have landed Chicago in legal trouble.

The mayor is now reversing plans to slash funding for positions linked to "consent decree" reform for the Chicago Police Department.

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That consent decree is a deal reached with the government after the 2014 police shooting of Laquan McDonald to make sweeping changes to the way officers do their jobs.

The mayor's proposed cuts were aimed at closing a budget gap of nearly $1 billion.

As the city moves closer to its budget deadline without a balanced budget, the mayor announced Monday Chicago will maintain funding for police reform, and the city will propose a budget amendment to the City Council to fully restore all 162 consent decree vacancies within the Chicago Police Department's budget.

Johnson said in a statement, "My administration is taking significant steps forward to fully support the implementation of CPD's consent decree reforms and ensure effective constitutional policing. The investments we are making in our balanced budget reflect our commitment to improving community policing and a better, stronger, safer Chicago. We see progress in key areas. As I have always said, we have a commitment to reform, and we will continue to make the investments to fund our obligations under the consent decree."

"We need to figure this out; we need the mayor and departments to rethink their budget," 15th Ward Ald. Ray Lopez said.

The announcement comes as 14 alders sent a letter to the mayor Monday with a poll about what they say Chicagoans want and don't want.

Lopez is among those who sent the letter.

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"We need to make sure we can do policing, that we can do constitutional policing, and it was a serious error in judgment for the mayor to think that was something we could do without here in the city of Chicago," Lopez said.

Previously, the independent monitor of the consent decree, which requires Chicago to make improvements in policing, has said, "The CPD must accelerate compliance, and to do so, the City must provide sufficient resources to support reform efforts."

"We are trailing; we're behind in terms of timing. We're behind in terms of progress," Civic Federation President Joe Ferguson said.

Ferguson is a former inspector general for Chicago.

"The CPD needs the support of the mayor and the larger resources of the city in order to move progress much more quickly," Ferguson said.

Ferguson said more reforms will ultimately lead to a safer city and more revenue.

For now, the city's deadline to pass a budget is Dec. 31.

CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling said in a statement, "The Chicago Police Department is a department in transformation. Since the consent decree was implemented, we continue to build a critical infrastructure to further our reform efforts. It is vital that as we continue working toward operational compliance in all areas of the consent decree, we also invest in the staffing and resources that allow us to implement substantive and lasting reform throughout CPD. This investment will continue the progress the Department has made."

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a statement, "I appreciate that the concerns that I expressed regarding the proposed cuts to CPD's budget were heard and addressed, and I am encouraged by the positive conversations I had with the corporation counsel. After stops and starts over the last five years, CPD now has an opportunity to build real, sustained momentum toward effective, constitutional policing with adequate staffing. I am confident that Superintendent Snelling and his team can meet this moment - if we continue to support them."