With the unanimous endorsement of the City Council’s Health and Human Relations Committee, the full City Council is scheduled to consider the measure, backed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, at its meeting scheduled for Jan. 18.
Twelve members of the Chicago City Council are not seeking re-election, which will mean nearly a quarter of the city will get new political leadership in 2023.
The surge of crime and violence that peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic but has yet to recede has imperiled Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s bid for a second term, even as the eight major candidates running to unseat her offer wildly different solutions to the seemingly intractable problem.
Local homeless advocates and Democratic lawmakers have lambasted Adams' new policy, arguing it’s a slippery slope to give police officers discretion to make such determinations while also raising concern about a lack of resources and staff to accommodate emergency hospitalizations.