08-04-2025
One-on-one with CPD's Supt. Snelling as he details new strategic plan
CHICAGO (WGN) — Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling introduced a new strategic plan Monday that includes his vision of CPD in 2025.
The Chicago Police Department Strategy for Organizational Excellence is a 59-page how-to manual based on best practices gathered from law enforcement across the country. It is also very Chicago-centric.
To the superintendent, who has been a police officer for 33 years, his vision of successful modern policing begins and ends with regular, ongoing training for everyone on the job, including himself.
'My objective since I got here is the top-down effect. It starts with me,' he said. 'We have to be responsible, and we have to take full responsibility for everything that happens in this department when it comes to accountability, when it comes to wellness.'
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With off-the-charts daily stressors that have all too often led to death by suicide by his men and women in blue, Snelling says a big part of his plan centers on mental health wellness.
'They are out there working every single day under some of the most difficult conditions that you can imagine, seeing people in some of the worst states that could ever see a human being, then expect them to get up and go back out there (and) do it again. We have to take care of those people so they can continue to provide services for the people,' Snelling said.
The new policing plan covers a wide range of topics, from office recruitment and retention to officer conduct to community engagement with stakeholders, effective use of technology, and more.
'What we have to do is build partnerships,' Snelling said. 'And I've seen since I've been in this position, when we collaborate, when we have a partnership or relationship with our communities and other agencies across the city, we can get some work done and get it done well.'
When it comes to stopping crime before it even starts, he believes we have to focus on Chicago's kids at the earliest ages, from preschool on up, including sports and extracurriculars, to education and nutrition. Something he knows all too well.
'I know what it's like at times to feel hungry … to go without to go without,' Snelling said of his childhood. 'I was surrounded by people who were suffering through some of those same things.'
Snelling's two older brothers are dead, one of whom, he says, was in a gang and dealt drugs. The lifestyle, Snelling believes, ultimately led to his premature death.
So why did he make it to the top of the ranks? He credits the human resource officer at his old school, Englewood High.
'Officer Thomas (was a) big, big man. Probably about 6'5′, 6'6′, about 280 pounds. He had the respect of all the students in the school,' Snelling said. 'He made sure we went to class. He was a pretty strong guy. He was tough. He was hard on us, but we needed that grown up in a single-parent home. He served as a father figure for those of us who did not have that father figure in the home.'
Resource officers were pulled from all Chicago Public Schools just last August at the behest of Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union. Snelling thinks that should be reconsidered.
'I'm not saying it's for (every) school, but I am saying that there are some locations where those kids could use that mentorship,' he said.
Much of what CPD does these days concerns Chicago's youth but on the negative side of the ledger. Just two Fridays ago in Streeterville, a group of teens closed down intersections and jumped on cars. The incident led to the shooting of a 15-year-old.
Snelling says much of the behavior of today's teens is driven by social media, and the overwhelming majority of homicides have been gun-related.
'We've already put together our intelligent center where we are working directly with ATF to run guns, analyze shell casings, things of that nature,' he said. 'Because of that, we solve some major gun crimes.'
Two officers have died by gunfire so far on his watch, and when it comes to the controversial ShotSpotter technology, Snelling and the mayor had a difference in opinion.
But not agreeing on every matter is to be expected, and Snelling says they talk on a regular basis.
'Here's a great part about it. The one thing that I can tell you with the mayor is that he does not interfere with the job that I'm doing,' he said.
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He says his priority now is implementing this new plan and keeping the city and his officers as safe as possible.
He says he and his command staff are weighing their options regarding implementing something like ShotSpotter in the days ahead.
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