Chicago’s new police chief seeks to prioritize his officers’ mental health as part of a bid to revamp the department.
“In order for our officers to love someone else, we have to love them,” Chicago Police Chief Larry Snelling said during a press conference at City Hall on Monday.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Sunday announced Snelling as the city’s next police superintendent. Snelling is a 28-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department and currently serving as the Chief of Counterterrorism for the Chicago Police Department.
“We need to make sure that we have the best trained and the most well-officers well-taken care of officers when we put them out in the community because when these officers feel good about themselves, they feel good about their department when they feel good about the job that they’re doing they’ll feel good and great with the community,” Snelling said.
Snelling is also looking to improve officer wellness and training, “overhaul promotions,” and restore trust between the police and the community, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Moreover, Snelling emphasized the importance of a cop’s mental health, stating that in order for cops to perform well, they have to be supported.
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He said that cops are not “robots … made on a conveyor belt… They’re human beings.”
“I talk to them and I hear it all the time. Sometimes, they just want to spend time with their family members… We have to evaluate and reevaluate our officers’ mental health. We have to be cognizant of what we’re doing to these officers when we’re canceling days off. We have to give them notice when that happens,” Snelling said.
He went on to say, “The things that are said to these officers now, the disrespect — that’s huge for our officers. How do they get over that? We have to make sure that we’re providing them with everything that we can provide them with so that they’re well, and they can get over the hump of not being respected most times or seeing death. Our officers are resilient, but we have to give them more to continue to be resilient.”
Snelling’s comments came after the Chicago police released statistics on Monday morning showing there were 19 reported shooting incidents and 28 reported shooting victims, fatal and non-fatal, from Friday evening to Sunday night.
No arrests have been made and police are continuing to investigate.
Overall major crime rates are up 35% so far this year over 2022, according to the most recent department crime statistics. Murders and shootings, which are the crimes that often receive the most focus, are both down so far in 2023 by 5% and 10%, respectively.
Snelling said that everyone in the city has to work together to make the city safe.
“We cannot do this alone as a police department. Every member of this city has to be a stakeholder, and I am willing to sit down and have a conversation with any and everybody within this city to work together to resolve some of the issues that we have and make this city as safe as we can possibly make it,” Snelling said.
Fox News’ Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.
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