(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Despite it being a weekend, it was a busy day at City Hall, with budget discussions continuing.
Chicago Inspector General Deborah Witzburg faced questions on several issues including extremism in the Chicago Police Department.
“Chicago has fallen behind the sort of national standard on dealing with this issue. This is an issue that I think is very straightforward in some ways, very complex in others," Witzburg said.
“The straightforward piece of this from my perspective is that we cannot ask people to trust a police department whose members are allowed to dabble in extremism. The very complicated part is in implementing good controls because there are first amendment issues that are implicated and lots of other questions as well.”
Alderman Bill Conway of the 34th Ward asked a clarifying question about Witzburg's request to deal with the issue.
“So you asked Mayor Brandon Johnson to form a task force to prevent, identify and eliminate extremist associations within the Chicago Police Department and his office declined. Is that correct?”
Witzburg confirmed that was true.
Alderman Jason Ervin of the 28th Ward, who is Chairman of the City Council's Committee on Budget and Government Operations, addressed Witzburg as she faced questions on several budget topics.
“Resources are finite. And I think, I think everyone's coming to that conclusion, that resources are finite. That we need to make some adjustments in how we spend money, but at the same time that we get more efficient. Then we can accomplish it, say more with less.
“So I think that your office can play a vital role in helping us to look at the efficiencies in government and what we can do to become more efficient to help save taxpayer dollars.”
Chicago is facing a nearly $1 billion budget shortfall for 2025.
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