Residents will be able to meet the members of O’Toole Associates and hear about their work as the Compliance Evaluator for the Springfield Police Department and learn more about their efforts overseeing the implementation of the settlement agreement between the city of Springfield and the DOJ.
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the city of Springfield, Springfield Police Department and DOJ jointly selected an independent compliance evaluator, who will serve as an agent of the Court, and who will assess and report whether the requirements of the agreement have been implemented and whether this implementation is resulting in constitutional and effective policing. The compliance evaluator will work with both the City of Springfield and DOJ to identify and address any barriers to compliance and provide technical assistance to the Springfield Police Department (SPD) to overcome those barriers. The compliance evaluator will not, nor is it intended to, replace or assume the role and duties of any SPD employee, including the Board of Police Commissioners or the Police Superintendent or any other city official.
O’Toole Associates was founded by Kathleen O’Toole, a native of Western Massachusetts and former Boston Police Commissioner and state Secretary of Public Safety. She also served as Chief Inspector of the Irish National Police and as Chief of Police for Seattle, Washington. Also, with O’Toole Associates is Rodney Monroe, retired police chief who worked in Charlotte, North Carolina, Richmond, Virginia, and Macon, Georgia, and Attorney Natalia Delgado, former associate general counsel with the office of Illinois Governor Pat Quinn. Collectively, the O’Toole Associates team have over 100 years of experience in law enforcement and criminal justice with an emphasis on policing reform including police management, police oversight, modernizing policing practices and accountability, and enhancing effective community policing and engagement strategies and community trust.
The Compliance Evaluator team members have already met with Mayor Sarno, Police Superintendent Cheryl Clapprood, City Solicitor Judge John Payne, members of the Springfield Police Department leadership team, and Springfield Police Department union representatives. In addition, they have also started meeting with community members and organizations within the city and will continue with these meetings. They have also established a website where residents can stay informed and share their questions, comments, and concerns with the compliance evaluator. The website is: www.spdcomplianceteam.com/in-the-community
The role of the compliance evaluator is expressly limited to assessing and reporting on the implementation of the DOJ agreement. It is not the role of the compliance evaluator to change either the scope or the terms of the agreement.
Below are the three individuals representing O’Toole Associates as the compliance evaluator:
Kathleen O’Toole is an attorney, member of the Massachusetts Bar, and holds a Ph.D. in Business with a focus on organizational change. She has served as a consultant to the US DOJ Civil Rights Division and as a monitor of a settlement agreement in East Haven, Connecticut, and a member of other monitoring teams in Chicago and Baltimore.
Chief Rodney Monroe (ret.) is an accomplished and highly respected expert in community engagement and police reform, serving as chief of police in three (3) jurisdictions: Charlotte, NC, Richmond, VA, and Macon, GA. He also served as an Assistant Chief in Washington, D.C., with a strong background in oversight and monitoring.
Natalia Delgado served as Associate General Counsel in the Illinois Governor’s Office with principal responsibilities for legal matters involving several agencies and boards, including the State Police, the Prisoner Review Board and the Department of Corrections. She also served as Deputy General Counsel and Chief of Litigation for the Illinois State Police, Deputy Director of Policy for the Cook County State’s Attorney, and as a City Prosecutor for the City of Chicago.
The city of Springfield and the DOJ announced Request for Qualifications (RFQ) in May 11, 2022 with applications due by June 10, 2022. O’Toole Associates was one of four RFQ applications received. O’Toole Associates was selected as one of the two finalists that also made a public presentation during a virtual forum in July which was co-hosted by the city and United States Attorney Rachael Rollins and the DOJ.