City Council committee rejects CPD discipline provision

Good morning, Chicago.

Setting the stage for a potential legal fight and protracted turmoil between Chicago’s largest police union and Mayor Brandon Johnson, a City Council committee on Thursday opposed a contract provision that would allow officers accused of serious misconduct to have their cases decided by a third-party behind closed doors.

The committee recommendation rejecting the contract stipulation now heads to a vote next week before the full City Council, which, if it agrees with the committee, would kill a major part of the contract between the union representing rank-and-file officers and Johnson’s administration.

The provision would allow officers accused of misconduct to remove their cases from the Chicago Police Board docket and instead have them decided privately by an outside third-party. It was the most controversial part of the proposed deal as public officials and critics said it subverted police reform efforts and took accusations of police misconduct out of the public eye.

But in a separate vote Thursday, council members on the committee OK’d all the economic benefits included in the contract for rank-and-file officers, including 5% raises this year and next. Read the full story from the Tribune’s Sam Charles and A.D. Quig.

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