Editor’s Note

Welcome to Newswire — your weekly guide to Chicago government, civic action and what action we can take to make our city great, featuring public meeting coverage by City Bureau’s Documenters.

Quote of the Week

“Within our policy, we can only deploy StarChase when we have reason to believe a crime has been committed or is being committed.”

— Oak Brook Police Sgt. Jason Wood responding to questions about StarChase, a pursuit mitigation tool that could be an alternative to ShotSpotter.

[City Council Joint Committee: Economic, Capital and Technology Development; Public Safety, Sept. 30, 2024]

Demo (turn)down

The Commission on Chicago Landmarks took the first step in recommending the Erie Street Row building for landmark status. Owners of the 150-year-old Streeterville row house applied for a demolition permit in July, but their request was stalled after the Chicago Department of Planning’s Historic Preservation Division put a 90-day hold on it under a law meant to prevent the demolition of potentially historic buildings. While the demolition request was since withdrawn, one possible driver of the owners’ desire for demolition, according to Sun-Times architecture columnist Lee Bey, is the potential financial gain of tearing down the building and erecting one similar to the skyscrapers surrounding it. 

The Erie Street Row building was built around 1877 and was one of the first to use Joliet limestone as means of fireproofing after the Great Chicago Fire. Its tenants were largely artists and creative firms and in 1920, the Michigan Avenue bridge opened nearby, bringing a commercial crowd.

House rules

Some alders had questions last week about the “low affordability community” designation and the associated tax incentives introduced with a 2021 Illinois state law intended to encourage more affordable housing development in high-cost areas. In Chicago, City Council can designate a project as being located in a “low affordability community.” This allows the owner to receive a property tax reduction for a certain number of years, so long as they maintain at least 20% affordable units onsite. 

Chicago’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance now requires new builds that receive city tax incentives to contain a certain percentage of units that are deemed affordable. Prior to this, the companies building apartments on city land or with city incentives could pay a fee or place affordable housing offsite, instead of in a project in a desirable location.

Park places

The Chicago Park District’s strategic plan from the past fiscal year includes “making parks the hubs of communities.” The district focused on keeping costs down for park users to keep programs accessible. Chicago Parks Superintendent Rosa Escareno boasted that $100 million was “invested in neighborhoods,” via new field houses in Belmont Cragin and Washington Heights. She also highlighted that 98 outdoor pickleball courts opened, and the park district’s goal is to open 200 more by the end of 2025. 

Despite the 2024 budget highlights, the Chicago Park District faces challenges for 2025. Escareno noted that as the district adds new facilities and acreage, it needs to look for cost savings and ways to generate revenue. As a sister agency, the Chicago Parks District budgets separately from the City of Chicago, and its budget is approved by the district’s own board. Other sister agencies include Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago Housing Authority, City Colleges of Chicago and the Public Building Commission. For 2024, Chicago Parks had a budget of $574.5 million. The superintendent and CEO will propose a budget for the 2025 fiscal year to the board by the end of October.

The Issue

Our biweekly look at what’s happening within our own programs, events and other work at City Bureau. This week, we’re digging into the latest update in the battle over Chicago Police technology.

Last week, during a joint meeting between the Economic, Capital and Technology Development and Public Safety committees, alders heard from suburban Oak Brook police about potential crime fighting technology. The meeting came just days after Mayor Brandon Johnson sunsetted the gunshot detection technology ShotSpotter in Chicago.

Let’s recap

After a months-long battle with City Council, Johnson successfully brought Chicago’s contract with gunshot detection technology ShotSpotter to an end, despite some alders’ attempt to transfer his contracting power to Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling. According to the city’s legal department, the ordinance was in violation of the Separation of Powers Act, which does not allow City Council to compel the mayor to act, so Johnson was able to veto the ordinance.

 In weeks following, some alders have raised $2.5 million in private funds to pay the city’s annual contract with ShotSpotter, a small portion of the over $53 million the city has spent on contracts with ShotSpotter since August 2018. Johnson also said the city will begin its search for potential alternatives to the technology.

Enter StarChase

Oak Brook Police Sgt. Jason Wood presented StarChase, a "pursuit mitigation tool" that shoots GPS-tagged darts to track suspects' locations, which, according to Wood, eliminates the need for a high-chase pursuit by police. Oak Brook Police began using the technology a few years ago. 

Vehicles that are fleeing from police, or are believed to be fleeing from police, are tagged with the tracker. The tracker can go beyond the limits of the Oak Brook, and has a battery life of about eight hours, which avoids legal issues associated with long-term location tracking, Wood said. 

Part of Wood’s pitch for the tool is that while it’s not cheap (he did not provide a specific amount), it’s cheaper than a lawsuit resulting from a police chase, he said. Since Oak Brook Police began using StarChase, Wood said there have been zero collisions resulting from police car chases. 

Oak Brook has a population of about 8,000 people — a fraction of Chicago’s over 2.7 million — and primarily uses the technology in the village’s shopping center. While Oak Brook as a case study for StarChase’s potential success in Chicago is questionable, Wood’s point about lawsuits is relevant. Last month, Chicago reached a $45 million settlement, after an unauthorized police pursuit left a 15-year-old boy unable to walk or speak, in one of the city's largest police misconduct settlements to date.

A version of this story was first published in the October 9, 2024 issue of the Newswire, an email newsletter that is your weekly guide to Chicago government, civic action and what we can do to make our city great. You can sign up for the weekly newsletter here.

Have thoughts on what you'd like to see in this feature? Email Editorial Director Ariel Cheung at ariel@citybureau.org.