CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) --A Chicago Police Department unit that investigates use of force by police is under a mountain of cases and is trying to get through the backlog.
The independent monitor overseeing the Chicago Police Department’s efforts to get better at not violating people’s constitutional rights had the first of what will be regular public hearings on CPD’s progress.
"Today’s hearing is one step forward towards additional transparency," said Independent monitor Maggie Hickey.
She hopes to have status hearings monthly on how well or not the Chicago Police Department is at bringing itself in compliance with a federal court order.
One thing discussed was the CPD’s unit that reviews use of force incidents. also know as the Tactical Review and Evaluation Division (TRED). The unit's commander, Sean Joyce, explained that there were nearly 3,600 use of force incidents in 2022 and that they really increase during the spring and summer months.
"We anticipate that, over the next few months as things slow down, we’ll be able to start chewing away at that backlog and get through it," he said.
This work takes time and this work requires staffing."
Joyce added that TRED is making the effort to hire part-time civilian employees to assist in these reviews and four newly-hired employees will be starting at the unit's training Academy to get some policy refresher training.
According to the Independent monitor’s latest report, the Police Department is in full compliance with only 6% of the consent decree requirements.
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