ALDERMAN O.T.-EES OFF ON TOP COP
Chairman of City Council’s Public Safety Committee says Memorial Day weekend violence tied to preoccupation with curbing overtime
David Brown failed his first major test as Chicago’s police superintendent because he was more concerned with cutting overtime than fighting violence and failed to share his Memorial Day weekend plans with local leaders, an influential alderman said Thursday.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot has condemned the “out-of-control” holiday weekend violence and held Brown personally responsible. The chairman of the City Council’s Committee on Public Safety went even further.
Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th), a former CPD officer, said the former Dallas police chief turned his first holiday weekend in Chicago into “a fail,” as Lightfoot put it, by putting hundreds fewer officers on the street than the 1,200 additional officers who worked last Memorial Day weekend.
Under pressure from Lightfoot to reduce police overtime that topped $130 million for the first 11 months of last year, Brown ordered all overtime to be approved by deputy chiefs and above. It was one of his first official moves as superintendent.
According to Taliaferro, the edict was on full display over the weekend, with “hundreds” fewer officers on the street. There should have been at least as many as last year, maybe more, to “saturate” South and West Side police districts plagued by gang and gun violence, the alderman said.
The Chicago Police Department also should have used “outside units” from the State Police and Cook County sheriff ’s office, Taliaferro said.
“You need to have those officers on the street during holiday periods — especially when we’ve been sheltered in place for twoand-a-half months. We can worry about cutting back on overtime Tuesday through Thursday.”
Taliaferro said Brown’s second major mistake was in failing to share his Memorial Day weekend strategy with aldermen in those South and West Side police districts.
“As a resident of the city, I didn’t know the plan. As an alderman, I didn’t know the plan. As chairman of Public Safety, I didn’t know the plan. That plan should be shared with at least some of us,” Taliaferro said.
“I did get a call from the department to ask about concerns. The concern is always the same: to have as few shootings as possible. … Why not tell the residents of the city what your plan is for Memorial Day weekend instead of facing an embarrassment on Tuesday — because it was an embarrassment.”
Tuesday morning, Brown acknowledged a cutback in officers working overtime shifts to patrol the streets over the Memorial Day weekend. Hours later, Lightfoot contradicted him, saying, “In fact, there were more officers on the street this weekend” than in prior years.
Thursday, Lightfoot said her remarks that the weekend strategy was a “fail” should not be seen as showing any lack of confidence in her new top cop.
“Superintendent Brown has, and will continue to have, my unflagging support. Full stop. I am 100% committed to his success. … I have every confidence that he will be one of the greatest leaders that the Chicago Police Department has ever been graced to have,” she said.
Lightfoot’s brutal characterization of Brown’s strategy marked the first time she has called out her handpicked superintendent.
Taliaferro was not at all surprised. “When you fail, she’s the type of mayor that won’t hold back punches. She will let you know. … She appointed him. She expects the best of him. In the mayor’s opinion, it was an epic fail. So she voiced that. She did the right thing,” the alderman said.
It will “trigger a do-better attitude,” Taliaferro said. “Fourth of July is a time for redemption. He has to redeem himself from this Memorial Day weekend catastrophe. … I would certainly not walk into the Fourth of July with the premise of reducing overtime. Let’s put officers on the street to keep our residents safe. And we’ll worry about overtime on the fifth of July.”