MEMBERS of the Chicago Police Department (CPD) have “no regard for the sanctity of life when it comes to people of colour.” So says a report published on April 13th by the police accountability task force appointed by Rahm Emanuel, the city's mayor. “The community’s lack of trust in CPD is justified. There is substantial evidence that people of colour— particularly African-Americans—have had disproportionately negative experiences with the police over an extended period of time.” The 190-page report is highly critical of what is describes as a code of silence among individual police officers and the police force as a whole. It also calls for the replacement of the Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA), which investigates police shootings and serious misconduct and is widely seen as biased towards the police. A week after this report was published, on April 21st, Mr Emanuel responded by announcing his reform plan for the CPD. To the disappointment of some, his proposed changes ignore about two-thirds of the 76 recommendations of his own task force. He called it a “down payment” on the road to reform, which will include the creation of an early warning system to flag up officers who generate a high number of citizen complaints as well as speedier internal investigations of problematic officers. A third-party hotline will be created for cops to report misconduct by fellow officers and to break the force's perceived code of silence. The CPD, the IPRA and the city’s law department will work together to “review officer discipline histories, patterns of alleged misconduct, civil settlements and judgments, citizen complaints and other data”. And Chicago authorities will be allowed to conduct internal investigations at the same time as state or federal investigations.

Mr Emanuel’s first reform instalment did not include the abolition of the IPRA, the setting in motion of a formal reconciliation process between the community and the CPD or the creation of the position of deputy chief of diversity, which his task force proposes. But if the mayor's reaction to the report’s recommendations was limited it was swift, and it left the door open for further reform. At the very least, it’s a start in tackling problems that have beset the CPD for decades.

The last six months has been one of the worst periods in the CPD’s history. The overwhelming majority of police officers are good people, says a former member of the CPD, and now they feel “that they are all being grouped with Jason”. In October 2014 Laquan McDonald, a black teenager, was shot dead by Jason Van Dyke, a white police officer who had been the subject of numerous citizens’ complaints about the use of excessive force and racial slurs—complaints that had not led to any punishment. When, after repeated delays, a police car video of the 16 shots Mr Van Dyke pumped into the teen was released in November last year, furious crowds took to the streets accusing authorities of a shameless cover-up and demanding that Mr Emanuel and other senior city officials resign. The pressure led Mr Emanuel to fire Garry McCarthy, the police chief, weeks later. The Department of Justice opened an investigation.

An interim police chief took over while Mr Emanuel searched for a more permanent replacement for Mr McCarthy. After looking at various outside candidates, in late March the mayor appointed Eddie Johnson, a veteran of the CPD. Mr Johnson, who is black and grew up in Cabrini-Green, one of the city’s most notorious housing projects, was chief of patrol and had not applied for the top job. He is well liked among his colleagues. His 27 years with the CPD are seen as an advantage by his backers—and his greatest handicap by sceptics who believe that only an outsider can bring about the root-and-branch reform the CPD needs.

On one thing everyone agrees: Mr Johnson has taken over one of the toughest jobs in law enforcement. The number of people shot in Chicago so far this year passed 1,000 this week, six to nine weeks earlier than in the previous four years, according the Chicago Tribune. Murders rose 64% in the period from January 1st to April 17th. If current trends continue, as seems likely, Chicago’s murder rate will reach around 570 by the end of the year, up from 468 last year and 416 in 2014.

One of the reasons for the spike in shootings and murders is the low morale of CPD officers. Many feel that they are doing a tough, unpopular job. “If you are on the tenth domestic violence call in one day it messes with your brain,” says a former police officer. The fear that even basic interventions could get them into trouble makes officers less proactive; criminals take advantage of their more hands-off approach.

Another reason for fewer police interventions is a new requirement, introduced on January 1st, to fill out a detailed report for every street stop. Prompted by worries about racial profiling it has made street stops an arduous process. Officers are particularly anxious about being accused of biased arrests. This may be why they made about one-third fewer arrests in January this year compared with 2015. The leadership vacuum as Mr Emanuel searched for a new police chief didn’t help. And the weather played a role. Shootings and murders are much higher in Chicago in the warmer months and the winter was unusually mild.

“Stay fetal” has become an increasingly popular slogan among members of the CPD. A play on Mr Emanuel’s comment that cops have “gone fetal” to avoid trouble, the phrase is even emblazoned on T-shirts sold online. Ten percent of the profits go the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation.