Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul warned this week that Chicago risks being held in contempt of court if Mayor Brandon Johnson insists on cutting spending and staffing as part of a court-ordered reform push for the Chicago Police Department.

In a letter to Johnson sent Tuesday and obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times, Raoul expressed “grave concern” about the issue. Cuts targeting CPD units Responsible for implementing sweeping changes mandated by the federal consent decree.

Raoul bluntly told Johnson: “I strongly recommend that you reconsider these proposed cuts.”

“Under the consent decree, the City is required to provide the ‘necessary and reasonable financial resources’ necessary to meet these obligations. Cutting off much-needed resources from the unit within CPD responsible for developing and implementing the policies, training, and oversight required by the consent decree is in direct violation of this obligation,” the attorney general wrote.

“Adopting the cuts currently proposed would put the City at risk of being held in contempt of court for failure to comply with the consent decree. If the cuts currently proposed to CPD’s budget are accepted and implemented, my office would be required to comply with the consent decree regarding the City’s intent to enforce its obligations out of court.” I copied this letter, which serves as notice, from the City’s legal counsel.”

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Raoul flexed his legal muscle the day the federal monitor overseeing compliance with the consent decree warned that Johnson’s plan “could solve problems”:devastating blow”to reform efforts.

“The proposed budget cuts would be a step backwards at a crucial juncture for the CPD reform process — just as progress is beginning to be felt,” former federal prosecutor Maggie Hickey said during a status hearing in the federal case.

A spokeswoman for the city’s Law Department said Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson-Lowry and Raoul “are engaged in ongoing discussions regarding their concerns with the intent of finding a resolution.”

Spokesman for Police Supt Larry Snelling did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Johnson’s proposed $17.3 billion budget includes a 45 percent cut ($6.7 million to $3.7 million) to CPD’s Office of Constitutional Policing and Reform, which is charged with enforcing the consent decree. The office’s staff will be reduced from 65 budgeted employees to 28.

Equally troubling to police reform advocates is a proposed 28% cut to the CPD’s Training and Support Group’s budget that would result in the loss of 90 jobs.

The police department was placed under federal court supervision following the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald and a subsequent lawsuit filed by the attorney general’s office.

The latest progress report published by Hickey’s team found that the CPD had fully complied with only 7% of the consent decree provisions by the end of 2023. To achieve full compliance, CPD must first create policy, then train officers on the policy and implement the changes.

Raoul joins the chorus of reform advocates sounding the alarm about Johnson’s proposal to gut police departments vital to freeing Chicago from the costly restrictions of the consent decree.

Major critics include Civic Federation President Joe Ferguson, the city’s former inspector general, and Robert Boik, former executive director of the Office of Constitutional Policing and Reform. Boik was sacked as head of the Constitutional Policing Department in August 2022 after criticizing then Police Supt. David Brown’s decision to reappoint the 46 officers under his control.

Facing a deficit of nearly $1 billion, Johnson ordered all city departments to reduce their budgets by at least 3%. He eventually increased CPD’s annual budget slightly — to $2.1 billion — but only to cover the 5% raises he gave rank-and-file officers when he extended and sweetened a contract negotiated by his predecessor, Lori Lightfoot.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Supt. Snelling said his first priority is “to make sure we have people to continue working toward the consent decree.”

“These were the positions we fought for in the first place,” he said. “We’re going to continue to fight for them because I don’t want to break that momentum with this consent decree (the progress that I believe we’re making right now).”

Hickey warned that the proposed budget cuts would “be a step backwards for the CPD reform process at a crucial point when full progress is beginning to be felt”.