Chicago Police Dept is 2,300 officers below its authorized strength (city hall, crime)

[Dressy]

Dear Chicagoans,
I am concerned about the safety of our wonderful city.
Here is an article
Mayor Rahm Emanuel redeploys 114 Chicago cops; critics question number | abc7chicago.com

that the new major does not plan to provide sufficient funding to the police department.

"Shields, who says his union had not contacted in advance of any of the redeployments, noted the department is already 2,300 officers below its authorized strength. Five hundred 500 cops are due to retire this year.
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"CHICAGO -- Rahm Emanuel campaigned for Chicago mayor on a promise of putting 1,000 more police officers on the city's streets. Now, the man Emanuel picked to be the top cop for the nation's third-largest city says the mayor has told him to slash $190 million from his budget – something people both inside and outside the department say can't be done without layoffs.
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Rahm Emanuel Pushes Police Budget Cuts Despite Campaign Pledge To Add Cops


When you here gun shots in your hoods you call 911, but regardless how hard they work, they are on a very miserable budget. And there is a very limited amount of patrol cars. One patrol car being involved in a reported insident means other areas remain without police surveillance.

For those who are concerned about safety please live your message here
City of Chicago - Feedback Form

Or contact City Hall
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[soulful]

Interesting articles. Thanks for the links.

[Dressy]

you are welcome.

[emathias]

The "authorized strength" is a somewhat arbitrary number. It really is not an indication that the CPD ever actually had (or needed) that many officers. Chicago already has more officers than, for example, Los Angeles does.

You may find the charts on this page interesting:
http://www.ibo.nyc.ny.us/iboreports/crimerep.html

Of particular interest is that the CPD, nearly uniquely in the U.S. does not report crimes in the FBI-standardized way, making efficiency comparisons with other cities nearly impossible. Nice gig to be able to have one of the highest per-capita forces in the nation and get away with making it impossible to compare the effectiveness against other cities.

[Alacran]

Its been doing better then any other year in my lifetime.
Who cares.

[prairiestate]

If we spend money on the police, how will there be enough for corruption!

[MysteryScience]

Originally Posted by emathias

The "authorized strength" is a somewhat arbitrary number. It really is not an indication that the CPD ever actually had (or needed) that many officers. Chicago already has more officers than, for example, Los Angeles does.

That information is kind of misleading. LA is policed by two departments, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. Together they have around 19,000 officers, compared to Chicago's 13,000.

[williepotatoes]

Police and Fire take up 54% of Chicago's operating budget. There is no room for new hires and expansion when you're running budget deficits of $400-$600 million. The gravy days are over and won't return for a long time.

[Broadrippleguy]

That explains the crime in Chicago then. Not enough cops=crime is King.

[prairiestate]

Originally Posted by williepotatoes

Police and Fire take up 54% of Chicago's operating budget. There is no room for new hires and expansion when you're running budget deficits of $400-$600 million. The gravy days are over and won't return for a long time.

What if we get rid of the patronage employees, cancel all the no bid contracts and generally clean up city government? I bet that would do wonders for city finances!