Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson Takes Victory Lap After Successful Democratic National Convention

well good morning everyone thank you for joining us today as we wrap up a historic Democratic National Convention hosted in the greatest freaking city in the world the city of Chicago first of all and most important I want to thank every single City Chicago worker the workers who spent months preparing and executing the best political convention that this country has ever seen I especially want to thank superintendent Larry Snelly and the thousands of rank and file officers of the Chicago Police Department for doing what they have purposed to do and as to keep everyone safe throughout the convention and protecting our guests the protesters and everyone's constitutional rights and of course our neighborhoods if the 1968 convention went down in history as the example of police brutality then the 2024 convention will go down as the example of constitutional policing these Brave women and men show the world how we can maintain safety while protecting the people's right to protest and to have their voices heard that is what I ask them to do and I'm so proud of that work the DNC was truly a full force of government effort so I want to take a few seconds to acknowledge all of the government departments and sister agencies who put in the long hours and accomplished this Monumental feat our office of emergency management and Communications led by executive director Jose Tado he did an incredible job this week let's give him a nice warm Round of Applause [Applause] they kept a regular and disciplined information flow anticipated problems before they arose and dealt with the mole Hills before they became mountains thank you to everyone at oemc who put in the work you did it away from the spotlight but without you the city doesn't shine though you did it without glamour you're the ones who made it possible we want to thank our Chicago Fire Department particularly the leadership of commissioner Annette Nance H the months of preparation that went into this is truly an incredible Testament to the spirit of our city we are the city that works and we work because of our working people from the CTA workers train conductors and bus drivers who made sure folks could get home to the streets and sanitation workers who made sure we showed the best of who we are to the entire world and of course to our department of transportation that coordinated all of these routes and closures to every single city worker regardless of their Department that contributed in big ways you did it small and large you welcom V visitors to Chicago visitors who were blown away our city they saw great vibrant clean streets small businesses bustling commercial corridors worldclass food and the Mosaic of our neighborhoods they saw our 600 plus public parks and of course our beautiful Lakefront but more than anything else they saw and fell in love with our people because DNC or no DNC it is still Chicago and all the beauty on display this week is beauty that has long been a part of who we are we are truly a welcoming City with warm people who love to share their culture and Community I want to give a special shout out to some individuals in particular from my team for the remarkable work to this effort Chief Operating Officer John mother John Robertson had y'all for a minute there huh to our deputy mayor of infrastructure Lori libson deputy mayor of community safety garyan Gatewood and to the person that makes sure that this corporate is always protected our corporate counsel Mary Richardson lry to our Communications teams and so many others that I really just wish I had more time to name what I have seen firsthand from you all of you over the last several months is true to who we are you are the embodiment of what I call Servant leadership you did the work that was not always pretty you went Way Beyond the Call of Duty because of a deep caring and a commitment to our city thank you all for your dedication thank you all for your service we partnered with the DNC host committee and Community Partners to rescue check this out y all more than 7,000 pounds of food Angela Tovar you did your thing that translates to thousands of meals for food for people who are food insecure the best part every single meal stayed right here it stayed right here in Chicago it went to Chicagoans so I want to thank the DNC host committee Secret Service and all of our state and federal Partners this was truly a team effort and I'm extremely grateful for all of you all's contributions thank you to the hard work and to the Working Families in the near West Side who welcome visitors in their Community the near West Side I know was a tough few days for you all but you all showed out you all represented Chicago so well because you know the west side is still the best side I'm honored and humbled to be I'm honored and humbled to be your mayor it's beautiful city City grateful that all the delegates around the world got a chance to get a real taste and experience of Chicago the place that we call home leading up to this convention there were many people who had doubts I don't know why superintendent but they had doubts many of them had questions I'm okay with those they said is Chicago ready is Chicago ready for this convention we heard it all Chicago Chans heard it all but being Chicagoans we stuck to the grind and we kept at work and today after pulling off the best convention this country has ever seen not only can we claim that we are the best freaking city in the world we also get to claim in a very emphatic way in the words of Sky Town's own Angel Reese what they going to say now what they going to say now every chicagoan to today should feel proud newspapers around the world are writing about an historic convention in a historic City that nominated a black woman of Asian descent to the highest position in the land we hosted a sitting president two former presidents as well as countless governor ERS Senators union leaders Faith leaders workingclass delegates we hosted the complexity of our democracy Chicagoans are people with an unbreakable Spirit you're never going to allow anyone else in the world to tell us anything different we have a vibrant city a city that is truly on the move a city that is entering into a new era of prosperity I want to thank every single chicagoan for setting the record straight once and for all we stood strong we stood together and that all all of that made the difference we made history and we did it our way the Chicago way so now with that I'm going to bring to the stage my dear friend in the great Optimus because like me he's a beloved Cubs fan OMC executive director Mr Jose Tado thank you mayor good morning good morning my name is Jose trado I'm the executive director of the office of emergency management and Communications uh for the great City of Chicago for more than a year OMC has coordinated with the Secret Service the Chicago Police Department the Chicago fire department and City agencies as well as other partners and Convention organizers to ensure the safety of all residents visitors and delegates for the Democratic National Convention I want to take this opportunity to thank my staff at OMC and all of our partners have been part of this great Mission I want to thank our 911 call takers and dispatchers the emergency management team the traffic Management Authority our 311 call takers our OMC operations centers our OMC Communications team and the more than 40 agencies and partners represented in the Emergency Operations Center o want to acknowledge the outstanding coordination and communication amongst all our agencies to ensure the safety of this event I am proud to have worked with this team throughout the past year and I am grateful for their partnership and with that I'll turn it over to superintendent Larry [Applause] Snelly good morning good morning I believe it's still morning first of all um let me say thank you uh to executive director Jose Tado um for the great work um that oemc did I have to thank the entire team over there um there are a lot of things that have happened behind the scenes and people that you have not seen who help uh bring this together so it wasn't just one entity it was the entire city coming together and all of those people who had a vested interest in making sure that the city was safe i' definitely like to thank uh members of the mayor's team where we had constant communication Mary thank you the the legal advice um between you and and uh CPD has been excellent and helping us uh get through this um that you know Christina just had the constant communication about what's going on and just keeping the the mirror breast of it um you know John you know we we uh went to school close together but we won't talk about that we'll talk about that little a little later but just from the very beginning all the work that you put into it um Garen an excellent partner um out there with uh making sure that our communities are safe and Lori on the end over there uh hanging out in the park making sure that everybody had their first amendment rights heard so I know that had to be challenging but uh you pulled it off so and just to the uh entire team um I'd like to thank the mayor for trusting me enough to choose me to be in charge of a department that I love of members that I admire and love uh been doing this job for 32 years just um such a great honor to be here so I'd like to thank you mayor for that um just great work being done at some point I'm going to introduce my leadership team because uh without them I'm just telling you right now this could not have been done um so what I'd like to talk about is the end of the DNC in the week starting on the 19th ending on the 22nd which was yesterday and one of the things that we talked about was keeping the entire city safe not just the areas around the DNC since the start of it from the 19th to the 22nd all of our districts had plans in place to make sure that we kept the city safe and secure and I just want to talk about a few numbers when we compare the same numbers of the same period of time last year from that Monday to Thursday last year we saw a 26% reduction in shootings a 30 1% reduction in homicides we also saw a 54% reduction in robberies we've seen a reduction in over 300 robberies just in that time period 35% reduction in vehicular hijackings and a 47% reduction in motor vehicle thefts now although those are reductions we still have work to do but it just goes to show the work that was still going on in our districts and around the city while our other officers went down to protect People's First Amendment rights and protect the city as a whole I can't say enough about our partners at the Secret Service just the constant communication um they've just been great partners and um Derek the best hair on the planet um just I want to recount he was out there with us yesterday Joe heon out there every single day Jeff Burnside just just great Partners can't say enough about uh the work that they did again um the Chicago Fire Department been partners with us I mean just it's just amazing the partnership there is amazing so I have to get the commissioner's name right this time because I messed it up one time she's never let me forget it commissioner Annette Nance Holt I just like itk you thank you for your leadership and your team there's another black woman's name they all know how to pronounce now too because of the convention this is a non-political event so so again we set out to make sure that we kept the city safe while protecting First Amendment activity and we did just that I cannot say enough about the work that our officers did out [Music] there we sat and we watched these officers go through it we saw people yelling their faces yelling up cities and they maintained their cool throughout they didn't take the bait so as a result of it you didn't see the activity that people expected to see so again please can we stop talking about 1968 2024 it's a new standard and the men and women of the Chicago Police Department set that new standard out in the field and I just again just could not be more proud of those men and women and the work that they uh put into this making sure that the city was safe as a result of everything that occurred out there there were a total of 74 arrests that were around protest situations in [Music] that we've had we had four people go to hospital and that was for medication problems someone complained of chest pains and then there were three other incidents where someone complained of some type of injury there was an injury to a finger and pain to a knee and they were treated and released um we had a few officers who were injured and those officers refus medical attention because they did not want to leave their fellow officers out there alone they wanted to stay and stay with their fellow officers to make sure that they were safe so as a result with no no one being injured no one being hurt it tells you how truly effective the approach was and the training was that we started over a year ago but let me talk a little bit about my leadership team these people were out there this was a topdown effort without this leadership team up here right now this could not have been possible these chiefs were boots on the ground and they were out there because if we expect the men and women of this department to go out there and police the way we expect them to police we should be out there with them making sure that we are serving as support so our overall Incident Commander Chief Dwayne Dev just the work that he put into preparing for this I know I started that I had the Bureau of counterterrorism before I appointed him to that position and he stepped in couldn't ask for a better person to step in and take over that I'd also like to thank uh deputy chief Jill Stevens who was working with him on this and deputy chief Chris papano Chief John Hine the chief of Patrol what can I say this man knows every protester on the planet I think someone was here from Norway he knew that guy too that's how I met [Music] him but his ability to communicate with people and communicate with people and talk to them about how we need them to perform so that everyone is safe just cannot say enough about the work that he did out there and and both of them stood arm in arm shoulder Tosh shoulder with the officers out in the field chief anet City our chief of detectives I mean just I can't say enough about the work that she's doing over there solving crimes um you know closing out homicides and professionalizing the unit in a way that we haven't seen making sure the detectives have tools to get their jobs done quicker just an excellent job working on First Amendment activity and our coordinated multiple arrest policy Chief Yolanda tally bu the Bureau of internal affairs what can I say she just works her fingers to the Bone to make sure that we have all of the information that we need and she also worked on that coordinated multiple arrests policy and had people out in the field making sure she also had people out in the field making sure that they would take any complaint that came from anyone at this time right now we have about I believe it's eight or nine complaints I'll just have to confirm that at this time total complaints and that's over a 4-day period um it's just amazing Chief angel nales of constitutional policing who has been helping coordinate getting all of the officers out to the field making sure that those officers are fed making sure that they're h at making sure that they have what they needed some of these sites we had EAP out there and peer support for the officers to talk to to make sure that our officers were in the right mindset when they hit the field it's just an amazing thing an amazing job by this team I cannot say enough about the work uh that they did now my comm's team don Maggie Tom and Tom there wasn't a reporter they could walk up to me without Don putting on his shoulder pads I just wanted to make sure he didn't tackle anybody but just just uh the work that you guys have done throughout this have been amazing so I just want to thank you for that so lastly what I'd like to say is our city was on display and it was on display for the world to see and I I guarantee the world was watching because everyone kept talking about 1968 however we showed again that this is not 1968 we showed what human beings men and women of the police department who are often criticized some of it may be warranted a lot of it isn't and hopefully we can have a clear understanding and clear dialogue and clear communication about how officers are trained and what officers are dealing with so that we have a clear understanding of how officers are responding change in a department does not happen overnight it happens over time and you see what happens when we respect human beings because we expect them to respect others when we take care of those human beings and make sure that they're well make sure that they're taken care of because when they feel Comfort it they can Comfort others this is why these officers show great restraint we treated them like human beings because that's what they are as we continue to move forward the DNC is behind us now now it's time to bring this city back up to the standards that we know it can be and that starts with everybody here in the collaboration in this room and I'd like to thank everyone here and I just can't say enough about the Chicago Police Department we will continue to grow we will continue to get that done and so that I don't mess this up again I am going to introduce the Chicago Fire Department commissioner Annette Nance Holt oh you good morning good morning let me say a special thank you to superintendent Snelling and to uh Jose torado um we work together very closely throughout the year uh we have a lot of special events so we're quite familiar with each other and we're used to planning big events of course this was no it wasn't a surprise to us and we came together and were able to do this along with our partners the Secret Service which we work with on other occasions when they come to town so I'm just very honored to have a partnership like this and to have people who are willing to put in the work and and take the time to make sure everything is the way it should be and I also want to especially say thank you to all the city agencies that work so closely with us if we start naming them we'd be here till tomorrow because every city agency basically had their footprint with this uh convention and they did a great job to make sure this historic event went off the way that it did um I want to say our planning and passion and commitment it paid off this took a lot of planning a lot of tabletops a lot of drills a lot of Manpower a lot of thinking a lot of rethinking a lot of paper in the garbage can uh because it just didn't plan out the way we wanted but I want to start by thanking My Command Staff because I'm going to tell you being a leader without a great Command Staff like I it just couldn't happen and I Bas I tell you I have the best I have Mary Sheridan uh who rolled with me every day wherever we had to go to make sure everything was going the way it should be um uh Deputy fire commissioner Mark Ferman he runs the whole City's operation fireing EMS a phenomenal man who he had a board over there in his office every time I go there the board would change I mean we were like what now he would think of other things along with his team to that we needed to address to make sure we were successful in this um also to uh Chief Cynthia Herring she's a fire prevention Bureau which was over all the venues um they had quite a challenge but they did a great job in what they did um also Chief helmold who was over at operations he was moving our strike teams our task force in place to support CPD phenomenal Chief Keller who was over Logistics and our um task teams he actually was responsible for Logistics Logistics made sure all our members were transported fed all their needs were met water whatever they needed even down to porta potties everything worked out great with this partnership also um assistant Deputy fire commissioner hernand Hernandez who's back here who is over EMS uh Emergency Medical Services he made sure all of his paramedics all the paramedics were in place and they had everything that they needed another lift and we still continue to serve the entire city without anybody suffering any delays and especially to District chief well Deputy District chief he thinks he's getting promotion I think Francisco valz let me tell you everybody will tell you anything go to Frank we had all types of things popping up Frank made sure it happened right away invaluable Partnerships with all the different agencies if you ask anybody about Frank Frank gets it done and then um the only thing just I just I didn't name everybody and I don't want to offend people but to my men and women are the greatest Chicago Fire Department my firefighters and paramedics they did everything to make sure this was a success I actually visited them last night over by the United Center and I said how are you guys they said we're tired but we're honored to be here this is such a historic event I was just like oh my God that just made me feel so good they were determined to make this a success so I just want to say thank you to everybody who was integral to this if I missed them I'll catch up with them with a memo uh when I get back and get some sleep but I would like to now introduce Jeff Burnside the US Secret Service coord Ator thank you thank you commissioner good morning good morning uh as a commissioner said my name is Jeff Burnside and over the past 18 months has been my privilege to serve as the secret service coordinator for the 2024 Democratic National Convention over the past year and a half I've gotten to know this city and I felt firsthand Chicago hospitality and strong strong work ethic I want to thank Mayor Johnson superintendent Snelling executive director torado for their tireless work and dedication uh to this event I'd also like to thank the men and women of the Chicago Police Department the Chicago fire department oemc and the secret Services Chicago Field office for their dedication to to ensuring that this event was a success there are countless others across numerous agencies uh that you've heard today uh that I'd like to thank for their efforts ensuring Public Safety and Security for this convention it's to numerous to to to name uh as you've heard every city agency was involved in the preparation uh for this event and I'm personally very grateful uh for that I'd like to to take just a minute though to especially thank uh Chief Dwayne Dev from the Chicago Police Department the chief of the counterterrorism bureau who served as The Incident Commander uh for the Chicago Police Department uh for this National special security event I can tell you uh that there's not one person in the Chicago Police Department that's worked harder uh at this at this effort over the last 18 months in Chief de and I really uh appreciate um his leadership uh his knowledge his skills and his abilities that we're able to apply to our security plan to ensure the safety as the mayor said not only for everyone uh attending the convention but the the uh nearly 2.7 million residents of the city of Chicago it is not a small undertaking and in Chief I just want you to know it uh didn't go unnoticed are unappreciated thank you this process began 18 months ago and as a group we had numerous planning meetings development meetings a community outreach to include uh door-to-door canvasing on two different occasions to engage with businesses and residents we also held numerous follow-up meetings with Community groups and leaders to ensure that the public understood uh what they could expect it's that communication along with the hard work of our law enforcement partners uh that helped make this National special security event a tremendous success uh putting on an nsse as you saw as a tremendous undertaking and the Secret Service could not ask for better partners and a more professional group of dedicated public servants than your law enforcement and Public Safety Community here in the great City of Chicago again it's been my honor and privileged to have had the opportunity to work with this uh group of individuals the LA enforcement and Public Safety community in Chicago is second to none and their residents in the city of Chicago should be proud of that now I'd like to introduce the deputy special agent in charge of the Secret Service Chicago Field office Derek Meyer good morning my name good morning my name is uh Derek Meyer I'm the deputy special agent in charge of the US Secret Services Chicago Field office I've been in Chicago for the past 6 years and it is my home during the past year of planning for the Democratic National Convention and in the past week especially I could not have been prouder of this worldclass city I want to thank you Mayor Johnson I also want to thank you superintendent Snelling I've been in law enforcement for 24 years I've traveled the world and I've lived in cities all over the country I have never seen anyone better than you you lead an exceptional Police Department I want to thank everyone in the Chicago Police Department along with oemc director Jose Tado I also want to thank all of our federal state and local Partners who contributed to the success of the last week I also want to thank Chicago police chief of counterterrorism Dwayne d I couldn't ask for a better friend or partner to go through this I want to thank Glenn Brooks the director of community policing for the Chicago Police Department and I want to recognize Joel heon the assistant special agent in charge of Chicago Field office who was involved with every aspect of the planning of the Democratic National Convention this week he was out in front in front of the lines this week along with the CPD Partners talking to the protesters and out there in force I always say that the Chicago Field office is a family and the people we work with at times like this are part of our family but I want to thank the men and the women of the Chicago Field office for all their extra hard work during the buildup for the DNC the Chicago Field office is also responsible for the states of Wisconsin and Indiana this year in addition to being a hot bed for campaign stops the Chicago Field office was also responsible for overseeing the Republican National Convention that's a huge amount of work and our ex and our team excelled to the challenge I could not be prouder of them I have been saying for most of the past year that the city of Chicago is a pro when it comes to putting on large scale events La palooza the Chicago marathon NASCAR and now we can add the 2024 Democratic National Convention to that list thank you who's oh oh okay oh okay I guess I'm next um thank you all we'll we'll pass it we'll take questions and just for the record that was quite the compliment to our superintendent I guess that's how they do things around here you talk about somebody's hair and then tell you the greatest person right here and we ask that everyone be respectful of each other's time one question one followup hi mayor it seemed like some people perhaps on social media and some on the other side of the political aisle than you seem to be rooting for something to happen outside the convention did you get that sense as well and why do you think there seemed to be a sense that there was that desire for catastrophe yes there were individuals who were rooting against Chicago and they were rooting for violence and Chaos it's no different than what governor Abbott is doing attacking our city Chicago is rising above that and we always will as far as you know their impetus and their motivation you know behind it I mean only you can only speculate but here's the thing those individuals who um were provocating or wishing that there would be chaos these are the same individuals who Justified January 6th these people are these people are dangerous but we're grateful that we brought this country together because that's what it's really about Chicago uniting this city um as well as uniting this country and really setting a marker of how democracy has to exist around the globe and Chicago we did it we did it we did it good morning mayor good morning how do you hope to capitalize on the dnc's momentum to tackle the next items on your agenda and can you give us a preview of what priorities you hope will benefit the most yeah you know look everybody knows you know that in order for us to Build a Better Stronger safer Chicago you have to protect people and invest in people that that we've already previewed that as superintendent said homicides are down shootings are down violence is down in the city and Investments are up $20 billion of new invest investments in the city of Chicago I don't know if there's any other person in here can can find any mayor within the first 15 months of their tenure to reduce homicides by double digits and bring $20 billion of new investment $1.25 billion for the west and south side of City of Chicago 1.25 billion that is the largest investment for community and neighborhood development in the history of Chicago you know so we're going to continue to do what we've always done we're going to attract the world as of course um our beloved black Haitian immigrant and his beloved partner the patami woman when they set up the Trade Post at the Chicago River they always saw this as a global epicenter Chicago is the global capital city of the world so I don't know if that means we get more revenue from the rest of the world but it sure looks like it that's the last part of your question yes there's going to be benefits yes absolutely and we're already seeing the return on those Investments the big point though is many of these Investments were happening well before the convention even got here so what we have is just like adding more sprinkles to a very beautifully fine decorated red velvet cake uh but in terms of new Investments what specifics do you think you know the time is now no but in terms of like C but Alice I hear what you're saying I get your point it's already happening that's all I'm saying it's already happening I'll say it like this there was a a young young uh uh student I was able to talk to during our budget round tables and thank you to our budget director by the way cuz she kept everything on budget Anette gozman yall give her some love she kept my budget balanced so so Ellis so your point because we we see where the Investments are public transportation environmental justice all of these things are happening housing um a small business expansion all that is already happening but this this young kid he he I asked him that same question I said what else can we do to make your life better you know this young student said to me 16 years old this little girl she said do more of what you're already doing so we're going to do more of what we're already doing question for the superintendent um you finally good G uh good morning superintendent hey good morning um one moment before I because uh I I kick myself if I left up here and I didn't uh speak about director Glenn Brooks from community policing who has been out there for every single protest and communicating back and forth um just the work that he does out there I just realized he was hiding in the back there so sorry about that Sam um you mentioned a little while ago obviously communication has been widespread among all agencies but specifically your conversations with the Corporation Council what advice did you receive and how was that applied throughout the week well the the it it's not just about uh uh um receiving advice it's about questions throughout right if if we saw something that we weren't exactly sure uh was lawful or unlawful um obviously I you know I have uh my legal Affairs team and um speaking directly uh with Mary's team was just um just amazing for us so we were able to bounce ideas off of each other just to see what the best approach would be in certain particular situation where we had questions about whether some uh Gatherings were lawful or not so it it was uh I I just can't talk enough about uh that communication and it helped us out a lot was that specific to the end kind of last night towards the end of things after the convention let out it got a little tense as delegates were leaving the United Center and they were you know people were chanting Shame Shame Shame at them like was there was was that one of the incidents you're referring to no no no no so that that that was a particular case where we just wanted to make sure that the delegates were safe when they were walking by um uh that group of people um because they lingered uh most people had left they lingered around we just wanted to make sure that there was no violence that occurred and that those delegates were safe as they were uh traveling uh toward public transportation but it it's other things just about Gatherings gatherings in the park um speakers things of that nature uh superintendent the tense moments at the protest last night I wanted to ask about that that we heard a dispersal order there was contact between police and protesters and then later on when the delegates were walking by there were no officers to be seen can you just explain what happened there and what police did to diffuse the situation well we diffuse that situation by this and I just want to let everybody know in the room and I'm not going to call them Media or me me members of the media I will say they had press passes and uh those individuals would not move if you if you walked by there there were more people out there with press passes than there were protesters um and we really had a hard time getting them to move um and it made the situation more chaotic so we realized as long as we were there there were certain members with press passes that were expecting a clash and I I explain everybody there won't be one so if you're waiting for the Carnage you can leave um but that didn't happen so when we started to pull our officers out we realized there was nothing else there for them to film because the expectations of a clash uh disappeared but we did have officers still out there they just weren't highly visible at that moment because we wanted to make sure that those delegates were safe when they were going by we had people uh uh around uh CTA and on the platforms to make sure that no one was attacked over there good morning superintendent good morning early on we had these projections of 20 25,000 protesters showing up do you have a good gauge on how many actually showed up and when it comes to the arrests and things how it breaks down relative to misdemeanors felonies that kind of thing so we we looked at um um the numbers uh I don't have the exact numbers but we estimated the first crowd to be somewhere around 3500 to maybe 4,000 people um on Monday um it's count hard to gauge what happened on Tuesday because there were people who came in and that group was relatively small compared uh to the uh to Monday uh Wednesday was also uh a large group uh upwards of two, 2500 maybe and then last night was probably uh in that same realm maybe around 3,000 so um when you look at the number of protesters thousands of protesters who came here um and engage in First Amendment activity and some came for other reasons uh to engage in violence uh vandalism uh 74 arrests no major injuries no major injuries to the offices just shows what a great job these officers did and how the training applied to that so um I we can get you a breakdown of that because we're actually working on a 4year portal right now to put all of those arrests up and the breakdown so you'll be able to get that information and I do have one followup to the mayor your voice sounds a little bit horse today I I imagine there was some celebration last night after the uh convention can you tell us on a personal level what it means to you that a woman of black and Indian descent is now representing the Democratic party as the nominee for president of the United States it means my daughter Braden is 10 years old she gets to see a reflection of her being as well as the full expression of her values um look I had the opportunity to travel from state to state to state to state within the convention and I can tell you whether it's North Carolina or Tennessee Michigan Wisconsin Pennsylvania um people are excited around the country for Kamala Harris it's a it's a real it is a truly a love story it it is and that is the beauty of this moment because um all of that which is historic that transforms our globe it starts right here in Chicago now Dilla the great historian says that everything dope about America comes from Chicago I would just take it one step further is that we are truly a capital city for the globe uh it's still morning good morning uh superintendent selling uh this is not a DNC related question but still something related to Public Safety uh over at Justice watch this week we co-published an investigation with bolt magazine that showed that over the last year and this is based on oemc data and CPD data that over the last year Chicago Police failed to report 200,000 traffic stops to State Regulators in violation of state law that requires all those stops to be reported to the state um and in your and in that data it shows that in your first seventh to eight months as superintendent one out of three traffic stops went unreported to the state uh why do you think your officers are failing to report these traffic stops and what will you do to make sure that they do report them well the first thing I'd have to do is look at the data that you have um we'd have to look your folks did look the DAT but here again we'd have to look at that uh break that down again once we do that I can answer that question right now right now this is not about traffic stops this is about the DNC so you you can try to turn this into something else all you want into 200,000 trff here's the deal when we get that information and I sit down with my people then I'll be able to better answer that question Mayor Johnson your office refused to provide a comment on the story and we're hoping that you would comment on it now looks like your hopes won't be fulfilled the city of Chicago just displayed some of the best policing in the history of of America these systems that we inherited cuz I know your research has done this as well these systems were jacked up 1968 was 2024 isn't is there anybody else that has a question could you please pass the mic back thank you and then I'll pass also for the superintendent U Megan hickey CBS Chicago forgive me if I missed it but did you give an exact number of arrests just yesterday uh oh just yesterday yeah there was only one arrest made yesterday but that was for obstruction of traffic okay and then can you comment on the decision to hold protesters who were charged with Municipal violations for sometimes hours at a time we heard eight or nine hours in some situations um the national lawyers Guild said the pre-trial Fairness Act allows you to you know site and release them in those cases that I you know what I'd actually have to look at those particular cases there may be some circumstances around that okay so and it could be processing not really sure at this point but sometimes scenes are chaotic and when we have chaotic scenes we have to move people and to move people it calms situations down as long as we have people who are standing and they continue uh to make noise it draws attention and and the more attention it draws the more attention it draws to the officers in the overall situation those situations become volatile and in order to keep that down to reduce the risk of having to use force or take more people into custody we may have to move people quickly and that may uh lead to some processing issues but in those particular uh instances I don't have all of the facts with me right now but I'm sure we'll be able to talk about that and your team's planning to publish a whole list with citations and all that information that's correct okay that's correct yes superintendent will there Mike ker with BBM radio ask me if I could ask this question of you it's the oneye anniversary of the shooting at socks Park um where does this investigation stand come on I'm asking for a friend really here's what I'm going to tell you we're going to get back to that one too right this is this is about the success of what our offices have done right now and we will get back to you on that one um listen I I just want to be clear here and now we can continue to talk about the past we can continue to to throw stones but right now I'm living in the glow of the work that these police officers did to show and you can do everything that you want to do to try to throw paint on it to try to be smch it to try to bring it down I didn't sleep at all last night because I stayed up all night T thinking about those faces and the pride on the faces of those men and women knowing that they showed up and they protected people's rights and didn't violate any of it this is a department that's transform me I will not be moved you will not break that down my men and women stood strong and they're going to to do it so cast whatever you want on it they protected this city and they're going to continue to do it and there isn't a traffic stop in the world that's going to change that these individuals are working they're being trained they're being developed and as we move you will see this department continue to grow and you will see it improve you will see our relationships with community and community members improve it is already started so we can continue to talk about the past but I don't live in the past I work toward the future and that's what everybody up here is doing right now is there another question well the question that I had for my story was for the mayor and mayor you kind of reflected a little bit um on how the convention went uh I guess the first half of the question is on on a political side obviously you were there I assume every night um how do how are you feeling about kamla Harrison how this positions the Democratic party going forward well you know that's um a very healthy question it's a vibrant one in fact the American people need government to work not bicker not attack and what what the world experienced what the people of America experienced was a discipline balanced presentation from the wide range of political views I mean Republicans spoke at our convention um the delegates of this convention the most diverse delegation in the history um from our you know individuals with disabilities to um a Native American caucus I believe the first time in the history of the DNC and so I just think from a political context is that um the strength of the globe it really is contingent Upon Our democracy and this this experience here Sur Sur thriving I should say so I hope that it gets at it it's just it's um as a social studies teacher I I just I wish I was starting school on Monday I mean this is how the first day of school would start for me which I'm really proud of my son who happens to be taking AP Government good luck son but um but yeah it's just politically I mean it's just one of those things that I think all of us in this room um I say this with with a great of humility we we will be primary sources one day to some college kid 20 30 years from now um at least some of us will be um that will come and ask us you know what that moment was like and what it felt like and how it shifted to the trajectory of America I mean this is the party the only party by the way which the city of Chicago LED it's the only party that condemned terrorism and has called for the immediate release of hostages and for ceasefire permanently that that that really sums it up that all of our interests can live in a space that we call America what a beautiful story have fun social studies teachers oh again the other side I guess it was more on in in many ways this convention was putting Chicago's reputation sort of on the line uh the way things were handled that was all talked about earlier um what do you think this does as to Chicago's reputation and and what are you hearing from people that you spoke to about how they viewed Chicago compared to perhaps the reputation they thought coming in yeah okay I get it that's a really good question look I I think for Chicagoans um you know there's a sense of Pride that we have when people underestimate us you have to understand who's on this stage y all like these are not we're not just like government officials we're fathers mothers aunts cousins like our our family you know look Us in the eyes every single day to make sure that we're okay I know that's true and in in this stage and workers all over the city have the same experience whether you're getting ready to go out and drive a bus or put together a lesson plan or provide child care services or to show up at a at a police district or you know a firehouse wherever you are Street and sanitation garbage truck people look Us in the face every single morning and we go out and we do the thing right and so what the rep the reputation that Chicago has had from Chicagoans all it had allowed us to do is to look each other in the face like we always do and say get back out there and do it again now as far as the world is concerned yeah look I I think it's pretty clear people fell back in love with Chicago they fell back in love with Chicago I keep telling you this is the great love story the the the probability of Jean Baptist point dubo and kitty waja Mee in from different parts of the world and now the city of Chicago is at the center of it Carnegie steel The Working Man woman's car was built here electricity came to life Quantum Computing a new form of Technology that's going to revolutionize how we deal with traffic issues or Alzheimer's that's happening in Chicago so um yeah I mean we could have to build more affordable housing because more people are coming Mar kind as a followup to that I mean to what extent did you feel personally like your reputation maybe not on the line is too strong but you're certainly under the microscope uh freshman mayor inheriting this this CNC has to put on the party it to to the extent that um maybe that pressure is off what do you hope that means for your uh the rest of your term yeah well you know I don't I don't know about the pressure being off right I mean we have a school district that is still willfully underfunded you know what I mean like you have to keep in mind my my chief of staff I think 90% of our conversations were about next week I mean like we're living in the future that sounds strange does it start over I don't want to say it like that we are preparing for the future every day and you know I think the pressure that we feel on everyday basis to make sure that we're picking up trash on time that we're keeping Community safe you you know that were putting fires out or EMT showing up to Save a Life that pressure didn't go away did it I mean no one up here is like saying we're we're so relieved now we could just go take a vacation in fact no one is getting approved for vacation for number two but I think to your point though about being a you know rookie mayor um and being under the microscope son of a pastor with no political ties none my my first political encounter my political Mentor is Senate President Don Harmon invited me into his space didn't know me from anyone and you Rise Up from the ranks of a middle school teacher it's an everyday person trying to get get by to become mayor of the greatest city in the world that that that microscope is really the microscope on what every black and brown boy should experience dream of that microscope I I got you I just want to make sure I bring this point home that that microscope is for the little little brown girl who is first generation who just got here because you had a tyrant at the border tried to exploit and now she's learning another language and is falling in love with the city of Chicago that's that's the microscope and just for the record Michael Jordan averaged 28 points a game his rookie year and he led the Bulls to the playoffs and then you know what happened after that right it took a while before they won a championship no it didn't take that long it didn't it didn't six of them by the way uh yes you get the point though I hear you uh and you brought up next week uh you know I think next week you're going to release a potentially billion dollar budget Gap is there any I mean do you do you almost wish that the timing was different that you could as the superintendent said kind of live in the glow of this for a little longer before you have to get right into thick budget season no the timing is perfect there's there's a time and a season for everything you you can't decide which part of your life you want to live in primarily that's petulant you know we don't we don't respond to this position of opportunity obsequiously you know we don't fall over this this work it's work that's why my father said never be afraid to work you don't want to make a mountain out of a Mill so we're going to address it we're going to approach it like I promised I would we got a great team that's going to help us do that we our last superintendent Snelling chip Mitchell with WBEZ you mentioned earlier I first actually very quickly um the 74 arrests that begins Monday or Sunday uh that began uh Monday okay do you have do you have a number for Sunday I think there are a couple I can't remember no I believe there was uh one arrest but it wasn't it it wasn't necessarily related to a First Amendment Act okay um so the question I want to ask it you you I have this instrument here so I can actually read it back to you the D you you said earlier today the DNC is behind us now it's time to bring the city back up to the standards that we know it can be what standards did you have in mind well we we have to continue to bring Crime down uh things are trending but we have to continue to bring Crime down now in order to do that we have to build relationships and that's that's reforming our department right now we're under consent decree and we want to make sure that we're working on that consent decree we're coming into compliance uh with the standards of the consent decree I'm in constant contact with the IMT the independent monitoring team and everyone else who's involved um I just want to make sure that we're looking at everything that uh with it within the department where there are mistakes that have been made to take corrective actions on those mistakes now we've seen what great training and tools and preparedness can do for these officers when we give them the right training the right direction and the right leadership that's what's important here we can talk about numbers people can sit and and look at data data doesn't tell you everything we have to look at everything you know on that that micro level and as long as we're doing that we'll just continue to develop and we'll continue to grow the department and that's what it's about so once we start doing those things we can bring Crime down simultaneously as we're doing it and develop those relationships and communities okay thanks thank you chair anyone else okay that all right thank you all is that everybody okay thank you all very much in 2028 hey that sounds that sounds about right doesn't it that thank you man appreciate youate got you