Mayor wants to expand Police Board powers
The Chicago Police Board is launching a nationwide search to find a permanent replacement for retiring Supt. Eddie Johnson.
The board will soon have yet another responsibility on its hands: hearing appeals from rejected Chicago police applicants whose names have been removed from the department’s eligibility list.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot wants to transfer that responsibility to the Police Board and take it away from the Human Resources Board, which has recently been taking a tougher stance against rejected applicants.
Budget Director Susie Park said the change, included in a sweeping management ordinance tied to the mayor’s 2020 budget, was a logical one.
“The Police Board reviews discipline cases. We thought it made sense for them to review appeals on the front end,” said Park, CPD’s former deputy chief of finance and administration.
“They know their way around the police department. They clearly have the background. It makes sense for them to review those cases.”
The ordinance introduced Wednesday also creates a new Office of Public Safety Administration to follow through on Lightfoot’s promise to merge the administrative functions of CPD, the Chicago Fire Department and the Office of Public Safety Administration.
The executive director — appointed by the mayor with City Council consent — would inherit a host of powers stripped away from the police superintendent and fire commissioner.
Those powers would range from payroll, personnel and time-keeping to procurement, leases, grants, fleet, facilities and asset management and information and technology.
The powers would also extend to recruitment and processing of promotions and medical services “including, but not limited to the examination of members of the public safety departments who are absent from duty on account of sickness or injury and certification of police and fire personnel for any injury or illnesses sustained on or off duty” and those returned to limited duty.