CPD community policing efforts have not built trust, cut crime, Northwestern study finds

Commander of Community Policing Angel Novalez speaks during a press conference at the 10th District Police Station in Lawndale in 2020. A report by Northwestern researchers found that CPD has done little to reduce crime or increase community engagement — largely because officers assigned to the initiative are re-deployed to fill staff shortages. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)

In the nearly four years since the Chicago Police Department launched its Neighborhood Policing Initiative, the program has fallen short of its goal of strengthening CPD’s relationship with the community — and reducing crime, a Northwestern University report states.

CPD launched the initiative in partnership with NYU Law School researchers in 2019, after the department came under the oversight of a court-appointed monitor, which called for better engagement with the community. A team of experts from New York University’s Policing Project were to work with a team of officers whose time was to be dedicated to positive interactions with residents in small areas of the city, focused on “problem-solving” rather than responding to 911 calls or patrolling.