DIR / COMMUNITY LIAISON

at City of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, United States

Job Description

Description:

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

Director/Community Liaison

Community Commission for Public Safety & Accountability

NUMBER OF VACANT POSITION: One (1)

(Additional vacancies possible pending budget approval)

Starting Salary: $74,244.00

THE POSITION

Under direction, the Director/Community Liaison functions as a liaison to facilitate interaction and dialogue between the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability and organizations and individuals interested in public safety and accountability and performs related duties as required.

BACKGROUND

In July 2021, the Chicago City Council passed an ordinance establishing a new model for police oversight, accountability, and public safety. The ordinance creates two bodies: a citywide Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, with power to advance systemic reform, and District Councils which are elected in each police district and work to improve policing and public safety in the district. The Commission and District Councils bring police officers and Chicago residents together to plan, prioritize, and build mutual trust; strengthen the police accountability system; give Chicagoans a meaningful new role in oversight; and explore and advance alternative effective approaches to public safety. The Commission and District Councils are supported by a City department, also called the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, with a full-time staff.

The Community Commission is a seven-member body whose members must be drawn from across the city and meet work- and experience-related requirements described in the ordinance. Commissioners are nominated by elected District Council members, selected by the Mayor, and confirmed by the City Council. Commissioners serve four-year terms. The Commission oversees the Police Department, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA), and the Police Board. The Commission’s powers include: playing a central role in selecting and removing the Police Superintendent, COPA Chief Administrator, and Police Board members; setting Police Department policy; e stablishing annual goals and evaluating progress for CPD, COPA, and the Police Board; and p romoting community engagement and transparency.

District Councils have been created in each of the city’s 22 police districts. Each District Council is made of up three people elected in regular municipal elections. Members serve four-year terms. The District Councils’ roles include: b uilding connections between the police and the community at the district level, where the community is a true partner in making the neighborhood safer, addressing problems, and setting priorities; collaborating in the development and implementation of community policing initiatives; holding monthly public meetings, where residents can raise and work to address concerns about policing in the district, increase accountability, and work on local initiatives rooted in community concerns and priorities; working with the community to get input on police department policies and practices; working to develop and expand restorative justice and similar programs in the police district; and ensuring that the Commission gets input from the community, so that the Commission’s work will be based on what people in neighborhoods across the city are concerned about.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

· Confers and works with the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability to facilitate interaction between the Community Commission and organizations and individuals interested in public safety and accountability, and to increase engagement with the Community Commission’s work;

· Serves as a liaison with organizations and individuals to identify and analyze the public safety and accountability-related ideas, goals, and concerns of a broad array of diverse community stakeholders within the city of Chicago;

· Works to identify, support, and create opportunities for organizations and individuals to share their public safety and accountability-related ideas, goals, and concerns with the Community Commission;

· Works to establish avenues by which organizations and individuals can increase engagement with the Community Commission;

· Works with organizations and individuals across the city to gather input to inform the Community Commission’s efforts to set goals for the Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department, Chief Administrator of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, and President of the Police Board;

· Works with organizations and individuals across the city to gather input to inform the Community Commission’s efforts to draft, review, and approve Police Department, COPA, and Police Board policies;

· Works with organizations and individuals to identify preventative, proactive, community-based, and evidence-based solutions to violence that the Community Commission can recommend to the City Council

· Works with organizations and individuals to identify ways to increase the effectiveness and efficiency in the use of public safety resources that the Community Commission can recommend to the City Council;

· Works with organizations and individuals to get input on the Chicago Police Department budget, as part of the Community Commission’s review of the annual budget;

· Works with organizations and individuals to identify ways to ensure that Police Department resources are used appropriately, taking into account issues that other professionals could adequately address;

· Advises the Community Commission and staff about identified ideas, goals, and concerns from organizations and individuals via written memos; and

· Carries out other duties as assigned.

Additional duties may be required for this position

Location: 2 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 1600

Days: Monday-Friday (occasional evenings and weekends required.)

Hours: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

THIS POSITION IS IN THE CAREER SERVICE

Qualifications:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelor’s degree in public administration, public policy, the social sciences, or a related field, supplemented by four years of progressively responsible experience in human relations, social welfare, or community organizing, or an equivalent combination of training and experience.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

· Deep relationships in a diverse range of Chicago communities.

· Experience building partnerships between diverse stakeholders.

· Extensive community organizing experience.

WORKING CONDITIONS

· General office environment

· Will have to work some evenings and weekends

EQUIPMENT

· Standard office equipment (e.g., telephone, printer, photocopier

· Computers and peripheral equipment (e.g., personal computer, computer terminals, scanner)

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES, AND OTHER WORK REQUIREMENTS

Knowledge

· Intermediate to advanced working knowledge of:

o Office management and administrative procedures and practices (Microsoft Office Suite & Microsoft Teams)

o Applicable computer software applications and personal computer operations, report preparation methods, practices, and procedures

Skills

· COLLABORATION: Works closely with others and builds enduring relationships that help achieve mutual goals

· COMMUNITY RELATIONS: Experience in community relations and outreach with the demonstrated ability to build strong working relationships with diverse constituents and communities

· PLANNING AND ORGANIZATION SKILLS: Ability to clearly identify and communicate what needs to be done, by whom, and on what timeline

· STRATEGIC THINKING: Understands complexity and intuitively knows how different pieces fit together; identifies creative processes/solutions

· PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Efficiently orchestrating man