Committee on Public Safety City Council Meeting May 26,2021
RESOLUTION.
WHEREAS, on June 3, 2020 Police Superintendent David Brown stated, "It's not lost on me that our folks are human. Working them 12-hour days for extended periods, fatigue sets in. You get this risk factor that they've been on the front line too long. So we're working on relief factor for these officers. We are cognizant that we might have to pull some off the line just to get them that break so they can just de-compress from the constant verbal; and physical assaults from factions in the crowd.. Their wellness from a mental health perspective has to be taken into consideration;" and,
WHEREAS, according to an internal email sent on May 8, 2021 the Chicago Police Department leadership informed the department that, effective May 21, officers would be working twelve hour shifts; and,
WHEREAS, in addition to the extended shifts, from May 21 thru May 26, officers second regular day off would be cancelled, with both days off cancelled for all employees May 27 thru June 1; and,
WHEREAS, there has been no identified or actionable threat received by the department to justify the extension of shifts or cancellation of days off; and,
WHEREAS, ten Members of the City Council of the City of Chicago asked Superintendent Brown to allow personnel to carry over unused vacation after staffing policy kept them from taking earned time off because of COVID-19 and civil unrest; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the Members of the City Council ofthe City of Chicago do hereby call upon the Committee on Public Safety to hold hearings regarding the officer scheduling, deployment
strategies, and programs or incentives offered by the department to address officer fatigue.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department along with the appropriate support staff, and the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, shall provide testimony to and answer questions from the Committee.
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