As the Independent Monitoring Team, we will 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 eight 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.
Maggie Hickey, 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 training. In addition to her practice, Ms. Hickey remains active in several community service and pro bono legal initiatives.
Ms. Hickey’s experience spans a range of legal issues in Springfield and Chicago, Illinois, and Washington, DC. In 2018, shortly after becoming a Partner at Schiff Hardin LLP, Ms. Hickey was tapped by the Board of Education of the City of Chicago to lead an independent review of the school district’s policies and procedures following the Chicago Tribune investigation that revealed cases of sexual abuse by Chicago Public School employees. In 2015, she was appointed Executive Inspector General for the Agencies of the Illinois Governor, an independent executive branch state agency that ensures accountability across the state government, nine state public universities, and four Chicago-area regional transportation boards. Before becoming Executive Inspector General, she was the Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois for more than five years. During her tenure as Executive Inspector General, Ms. Hickey was chair of the Illinois Health Care Fraud Elimination Task Force, a comprehensive effort to prevent and eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse in state-administered health care programs. Before becoming the Executive Inspector General, Ms. Hickey spent five years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois’s Criminal Division, Financial Crimes, and Special Prosecution sections, investigating and prosecuting complex and sensitive matters. Before working in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, Ms. Hickey served as chief of staff and chief legal counsel to U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald, and she began her career with the U.S. Senate as the Investigative Counsel for the Committee on Government Affairs. Earlier in her career, Ms. Hickey was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division for the Southern District of West Virginia.
Chief (Ret.) Rodney Monroe, 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 the public’s fear of crime.
Chief Monroe has worked with other police department settlement agreements as well. As the Independent Monitor appointed by a federal judge, Chief Monroe leads an auditing team working with Meridian, Mississippi, Police Department (MPD) personnel, the Meridian community (particularly youths), and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) personnel to ensure that the MPD complies with the provisions outlined in the agreement. Meridian has achieved substantial compliance with all areas of the settlement agreement. Chief Monroe also has experience with the DOJ Community Oriented Policing Services’ (COPS) Collaborative Reform Initiative, specifically working with the North Charleston Police Department following the police shooting of Walter Scott.
Chief Monroe also brings expertise in reviewing critical incidents. For example, he provided subject matter expertise and technical assistance in the critical incident review of the November 15, 2015, shooting of Jamar Clark by Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officers. His work explored a wide range of critical policing issues.
Chief Monroe is a recognized leader, innovator, and practitioner of community policing and has more than 30 years of experience in law enforcement. He was chief of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina, Police Department (CMPD), nationally recognized for its excellence in community policing. Under his leadership, the department refocused its efforts on crime fighting and crime prevention through a more accountable organizational structure, new technology, and an enhanced community policing strategy. Before he joined CMPD, Chief Monroe served as chief in Macon, Georgia, and in Richmond, Virginia. While serving in Richmond, his efforts led to the lowest number of homicides in 25 years. Chief Monroe also worked in a variety of leadership positions within the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Department.
Associate Monitors
Nine Associate Monitors will 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.
Our Associate Monitors include: Dr. Theron Bowman (Training and Recruitment, Hiring, and Promotion), Harold Medlock (Transparency and Accountability), Paul Evans (Use of Force), Steve Rickman (Community Policing), Denise Rodriguez (Impartial Policing), Julie Solomon (Crisis Intervention), Hassan Aden (Supervision), Cassandra Deck-Brown (Officer Wellness and Support) and Tom Christoff (Data Collection, Analysis and Management). Learn more about our Associate Monitors.
Community Engagement Team
Our Community Engagement Team embodies our collaborative approach to this monitoring work. The Community Engagement Team is comprised of experienced Chicago community members, experts in police-community relations, lawyers, 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 will also work closely with the Monitor, Deputy Monitors, and Associate Monitors to assess the community component of compliance with the Consent Decree. Learn more about our Community Engagement Team.