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As Lightfoot's Police Board President Term Ends, Rahm Mum On Future Plans

 Police Board President Lori Lightfoot's term expires Monday. Lightfoot said she hasn't spoken to Mayor Rahm Emanuel since April.
Police Board President Lori Lightfoot's term expires Monday. Lightfoot said she hasn't spoken to Mayor Rahm Emanuel since April.
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DNAinfo/Heather Cherone; file photo

AVALON PARK — Mayor Rahm Emanuel declined on Monday to say whether he planned to give Chicago Police Board​ President Lori Lightfoot another term as efforts continue to reform the Police Department in the wake of the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald.

Speaking at an unrelated event to tout the city's simplified preschool application process, Emanuel brushed aside a question about Lightfoot's status, noting that her term as a member of the board designed to oversee the police disciplinary process does not expire until 2019.

Lightfoot, whose stint as president ends Monday, told DNAinfo that she has not spoken to Emanuel about an extension, and did not know why the mayor had not offered her another term or moved to name a new president.

Emanuel said he looked forward to speaking with Lightfoot soon.

Lightfoot said she wants to serve another term as president, but would not continue her duties as the board's leader once her term as president expires.

"There is lots of work to be done," Lightfoot said. "If you are committed to reform, it seems like the obvious decision [to reappoint me.]"

Lightfoot previously has been critical of Emanuel's decision to ask the U.S. Justice Department to appoint an independent monitor — and not a federal judge — to be in charge of the effort to reform the Police Department.

A sweeping federal investigation completed in the waning days of the Obama administration found that as gun violence "overwhelmed" Chicago, its police force routinely violated the civil rights of residents by using excessive force caused by poor training and nonexistent supervision.

READ THE FULL DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE REPORT HERE

In January, before President Donald Trump took office, Emanuel agreed to negotiate a legally binding agreement — known as a consent decree — to ensure that reforms are implemented under the authority of a federal judge.

"The Department of Justice has told us privately what they have suggested publicly, that they are not willing to enter into a consent decree in Chicago," said Adam Collins, a spokesman for Emanuel.

Emanuel has said a monitor will provide the city with an "independent set of eyes" and "achieve the same goals" as a consent decree would.

Lightfoot, who also helped lead Emanuel's Police Accountability Task Force has described Emanuel's approach to police reform as rooted in "fantasy."

When Emanuel tapped Lightfoot to replace Demetrius Carney, who led the board from 1996 to 2015, he said Lightfoot, an attorney at Mayer Brown, was especially qualified to be president of the Police Board because of her record as a federal prosecutor.

The Police Board decides cases when the superintendent of police moves to fire an officer or suspend an officer for more than 30 days. In addition, officers can ask the board to review any suspensions of more than six days and resolve matters in which the Independent Police Review Agency and police brass disagree on the level of discipline for an officer.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in February that he had not read the 161-page report by Obama administration officials and dismissed some of its findings as "pretty anecdotal, and not so scientifically based."

Sessions has long been a critic of consent decrees. In 2008, the then-senator called consent decrees "dangerous" and said they "constitute an end run around the democratic process."

Emanuel, who is expected to decide this summer whether he plans to run for a third term as mayor, already proposed and implemented a number of changes to the Police Department, including more mental health awareness and de-escalation training and a revised policy that will determine when and how police officers can use force.

Emanuel and officials in his administration have declined to answer questions about the details of the proposed agreement. It is not clear how the independent monitor would be picked, what reforms he or she would be charged with overseeing and any deadlines for implementation.

A new $1.8 million unit in city Inspector General Joseph Ferguson's office will be charged with scrutinizing police misconduct investigations and the discipline imposed on officers.

In addition, a new agency — the Civilian Office of Police Accountability — will begin investigating allegations of excessive force and misconduct by police officers in September, and Emanuel has promised the new agency will work faster more thoroughly.

Contributing: Sam Cholke