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Read the press release here.

Weigh In On Community Policing Push At 3 Town Hall Meetings

By Heather Cherone | March 24, 2017 5:53am | Updated on April 18, 2017 11:45am
 Ald. Edward Burke (14th) said he
Ald. Edward Burke (14th) said he "could not believe" so few people were on the Chicago Police registry of gun offenders.
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DNAinfo/Kelly Bauer

CHICAGO — Three town hall-style meetings will give residents a chance to weigh in on the Chicago Police Department's renewed focus on community policing, officials said.

The meetings will give the city's Community Policing Advisory Panel a chance to hear from residents directly, officials said. The panel is charged by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Supt. Eddie Johnson with developing a "strategic plan" for collaborating with neighborhoods to fight crime and restore trust between police and residents.

That plan is expected to be completed by June.

The meetings will take place:

• 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday at George Westinghouse College Prep, 3223 W. Franklin Blvd.

• 6:30-8:30 p.m. April 25 at Sullivan High School, 6631 N. Bosworth Ave.

• 6:30-8:30 p.m. May 2 at Corliss Early College STEM High School, 821 E. 103rd St.

Residents can also submit their comments online at chicagopolice.org.

Johnson has said the department's renewed emphasis on community policing would "better embrace the critical role the community can and should play in addressing issues of crime."

Community policing efforts throughout the city have been stretched thin after years of budget cuts and a greater emphasis on arrests and violence suppression.

The department is set to grow by 970 positions: 516 police officers, 200 detectives, 112 sergeants, 50 lieutenants and 92 field training officers.

The department also will fill 500 vacant positions, Johnson said.

A 161-page report by the Department of Justice released Jan. 13 concluded that the department must embrace community policing as "a core philosophy" in order to end officers' routine violations of the civil rights of residents by using excessive force caused by poor training and nonexistent supervision.

READ THE FULL DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE REPORT HERE

"We commend CPD for its renewed emphasis on community policing," federal investigators wrote. "This policing approach, when implemented with fidelity to all its tenets, has been shown to be effective at making communities safer while incentivizing a policing culture that builds confidence in law enforcement."