After five years under a consent decree, the for-profit monitor says that Chicago PD has only achieved 6% full compliance. At this rate of progress, Chicago PD will be under a consent decree for at least 22 years. The for-profit monitor, who determines compliance with the decree, makes about $4 million a year, so her total winnings will be more than $88 million.
Chicago PD held a press conference to try and put a positive spin on their lack of progress with court mandated reforms. The new Superintendent said that the Department is intentionally going slow so they can get everything done right.
The consent decree requires officers to undergo 40 hours of training each year including yoga classes and de-escalation scenarios. The state of Illinois only requires 24 hours of training. The additional 16 hours of training required by the consent decree will result in the loss of 192,000 hours of policing as the 12,000 Chicago police officers are taken off the street and put in the classroom.
The City of Chicago just opened a new $170 million training facility for all the new programs mandated by the consent decree. The costs of conducting the annual training will likely be in the millions. Meanwhile the critics of the police who demanded the consent decree are now seeing city services and social programs being cut to pay for all the new police reforms.
The only winners in a consent decree are the for-profit monitors.
