What is a Police District Council?

What will District Council Members do?

Thanks to the Empowering Communities for Public Safety Ordinance (ECPS) ordinance passed in 2021, each of Chicago’s 22 police districts will have a three-member District Council. Chicagoans will elect District Council members for the first time in the 2023 Municipal Election. These new elected officials will serve as neighborhood ambassadors. They'll give our communities a voice in public safety and policing. 

District Council members will serve four year terms. According to the ECPS Ordinance, District Council members will:

  • Build stronger connections between the police and the community at the district level. They’ll ensure the community is a true partner in making the neighborhood safer.

  • Hold monthly public meetings. Residents and Council members will discuss local concerns and priorities. These meetings will increase accountability and transparency. 

  • Help develop and implement new safety initiatives. These include restorative justice practices and community alternatives to policing.

  • Nominate members of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability. The Commission — also created by the ordinance — will decide CPD policy, establish public safety goals, and play a central role in selecting police leadership. 

  • Work with the Community Commission. District Council members will ensure the Commission’s work is based on what residents in their district’s neighborhoods are concerned about.

How is this different from CAPS?

In talking to our 19th District neighbors, this is a question we’ve heard a lot. Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) is the Chicago Police Department’s community policy initiative. CPD beat officers and community leaders hold regular CAPS meetings for each police beat.

In monthly District Council meetings, Council members — not CPD officers — will be the ones setting the agendas and communicating information. District Council members will be independent advocates for their constituents.They will engage in open, respectful, dialogue with all community stakeholders to create a vision and advocate for a modernized public safety system, while working to persuade elected officials to act on these visions. District Council members will proactively bring community members and organizations into the conversation about public safety. District Council meetings will also offer a welcoming space for people—many who are marginalized—who do not normally feel comfortable expressing concerns to police officers. 

District Councils won’t replace CAPS. As District Council members, Maurilio, Jenny, and Sam will collaborate with CAPS officials to help reshape public safety and policing in the district.