Our Teams – CPD Monitoring Team

Community Engagement Team

As the Independent Monitoring Team, we assess the Chicago Police Department’s (CPD’s) and the City of Chicago’s (City’s) progress in meeting the Consent Decree’s mandates and will report directly to Judge Dow. We will also support the City and the CPD in implementing the changes that the Consent Decree requires. Monitor Maggie Hickey and Deputy Monitor Chief Rodney Monroe, Ret. lead the Independent Monitoring Team, which includes eleven Associate Monitors (overseeing the ten topic areas set out in the Consent Decree), a Community Engagement Team, legal professionals, analysts, subject matter experts, and community survey staff. To share your thoughts with Independent Monitor Hickey and her leadership team, please fill out our feedback form. Please note, if you would like your message to anonymous, just leave the personal information blank.

Joe Hoereth, PhD

Joe Hoereth, PhD, is an urban planner who regularly engages with Chicago communities through his position as Director of the Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement (IPCE) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Dr. Hoereth creates opportunities for...

Norma Ramos, MSM

Norma Ramos, MSM, is a civic engagement strategist who regularly engages with Chicago communities as the Associate Director for the Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement (IPCE) at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). As Associate Director, she is responsible...

Stephen Rickman, MA

Associate Monitor for Community Policing

Stephen Rickman, MA, is an expert in police-community relations. He has worked for over 20 years in high-level positions in public safety and community support. Mr. Rickman is currently an Associate Monitor on the Independent Monitoring Team for the Albuquerque...

Associate Monitors

Eleven Associate Monitors oversee the ten topic areas set out in the Consent Decree: (1) community policing; (2) impartial policing; (3) crisis intervention; (4) use of force; (5) recruitment, hiring, and promotion; (6) training; (7) supervision; (8) officer wellness and support; (9) accountability and transparency; and (10) data collection, analysis, and management and (11) Investigatory Stops, Protective Pat Downs, and Enforcement of Loitering Ordinances.

Learn more about our Associate Monitors below.

Stephen Rickman, MA

Associate Monitor for Community Policing

Denise Rodriguez

Associate Monitor for Impartial Policing

Denise Rodriguez, MA is the Associate Monitor for Impartial Policing. Ms. Rodriguez is a leading expert on collaborative reform, police accountability, civilian oversight of police, and community-based policing. In addition to her work on the Chicago Independent Monitoring Team, she...

Julie Solomon

Associate Monitor for Crisis Intervention

Julie Solomon, MBA, LSCSW is the Associate Monitor for Crisis Intervention. Ms. Solomon has broad experience at the local, state, and national levels and has done expansive work at the intersection of Justice and Behavioral Health. Ms. Solomon has been...

Paul Evans

Associate Monitor for Use of Force

Commissioner (Ret.) Paul Evans, JD, is the Associate Monitor for Use of Force. Commissioner Evans is an expert on police use of force. He served as Commissioner of the Boston, Massachusetts, Police Department from 1993 to 2003. He then served...

Theron Bowman

Associate Monitor for Recruitment, Hiring, and Promotion and Training

Theron Bowman, Ph.D., is the Associate Monitor for Recruitment, Hiring, and Promotion and Training. Dr. Bowman began his public service career in 1983 as an officer with the Arlington, Texas, Police Department, and served in numerous positions before becoming chief...

Alfred Durham

Associate Monitor for Supervision

Chief Durham (Ret) is the associate monitor for Supervision. He is the former Chief of Police of the Richmond Police Department in Richmond, Virginia. Until late 2023, he was the Director of Security and Investigations for the National Football League...

Chief (Ret.) Cassandra Deck-Brown

Associate Monitor for Officer Wellness and Support

Cassandra Deck-Brown was selected to lead the Raleigh Police Department, the 41st largest police department in the nation from February 2013, until her retirement in July 2021. While navigating her way through the RPD ranks, Cassandra Deck-Brown was often the...

Michael Antony Dirden

Associate Monitor for Accountability and Transparency

Michael Dirden began his public service career in 1985 as an officer with the Houston, Texas Police Department (HPD) and served there for three decades in progressive ranks including Executive Assistant Chief of Police and Attorney. During his tenure Michael...

Tom Christoff, PhD

Associate Monitor for Data Collection, Analysis, and Management

Tom Christoff, PhD, currently serves on the monitoring teams in Portland, OR and Chicago, IL. Between these two roles, Dr. Christoff has helped develop comprehensive systems for auditing use of force events, mental health crisis response, training, employee information systems,...

Kerr Putney

Associate Monitor for Investigatory Stops, Protective Pat Downs, and Enforcement of Loitering Ordinances

Chief (Ret.) Kerr Putney served for nearly 30 years with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department in Charlotte, North Carolina. For the last five years of his career, he served as the Chief of Police until he retired in July of 2020....

Michael S. Harrison

Associate Monitor

Recognized nationally and internationally as a leader and proponent of constitutional, community-based policing, Michael S. Harrison has been at the forefront of bringing about departmental reforms and changing for the better essential relationships between the police and the communities they...

Leadership Team

The Community Engagement Team is a critical part of the Independent Monitoring Team and embodies our collaborative approach to this monitoring work. The Community Engagement Team is comprised of experienced Chicago community members, experts in police-community relations, and academic scholars. These members work together to meaningfully engage Chicago’s communities and ensure their participation throughout the monitoring process. The Community Engagement Team works closely with the Monitor, Deputy Monitors, and Associate Monitors to assess the community component of compliance with the Consent Decree.

Chief (Ret.) Rodney Monroe, Deputy Monitor

Deputy Monitor

Chief (Ret.) Rodney Monroe serves as Deputy Monitor. Chief Monroe brings extensive experience organizing communities and developing meaningful partnerships with residents, businesses, and faith-based organizations to increase trust, respect, and legitimacy while reducing crime, improving quality of life, and reducing...

rodney.monroe@cpdmonitoringteam.com

Maggie Hickey, Monitor

Monitor

Ms. Maggie Hickey is a highly skilled attorney and consensus builder with a long and notable career in government. She has a wealth of experience in internal investigations, compliance programs, police operations, sexual harassment issues in the workplace, and ethics...

maggie.hickey@afslaw.com