Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday indicated he's getting closer to his campaign pledge of putting 1,000 more police officers on Chicago streets, but critics continued to note he hasn't hired any new ones and is simply shuffling cops around.
The Chicago Police Department announced that starting Thursday, 59 officers from special units and 55 with desk jobs in the patrol bureau will patrol beats across the city. The tally of officers reassigned to districts now stands at 881 by the mayor's count.
Mike Shields, president of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, said the city needs to hire new cops to address the department's vacancies, not just move officers around.
"There are 322 retirements year-to-date. There have been no new hires," Shields said. "The Emanuel administration is counting transfers as new officers on the street.
"This is a shuffle," Shields added. "If you keep saying 1,000 new officers are on the street, eventually people are going to believe it."
Unlike earlier redeployments, Emanuel said the latest crop of additional beat cops will be distributed among each of the city's 25 police districts. Previous moves focused on high-crime areas.
The mayor made the announcement alongside Ald. Harry Osterman, 48th, in the Broadway Armory on the North Side. Osterman campaigned on a promise to fight attempts to move police out of his neighborhoods into higher-crime areas.
Emanuel also used a specific set of Police Department statistics to say that his police strategy is "gaining traction." The data show crime was down 20 percent across Chicago from August through the first two weeks of September compared to the same time period last year.
According to Police Department numbers, homicides are down 31 percent during that time frame, shootings are down 21 percent and vehicle thefts are 12 percent below the 2010 mark for those six weeks.
The administration started the comparison on Aug. 1 because it took that long for earlier changes implemented by Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy to take effect, according to a mayoral spokeswoman.
Overall, Chicago homicides have dropped nearly 7.5 percent from January through July compared to the same period last year, according to numbers police officials released in mid-August. Vehicle thefts had increased by 16.8 percent increase through July.
While the mayor claimed some credit Wednesday, he also acknowledged the crime trend could change quickly.
"Everyone knows it can flip on you," Emanuel said. "It's a snapshot."
Shields asked: "If they take credit for the good, will they be here to take credit for the bad?
"Do Chicagoans really feel they are safer in the city? We are short officers, no matter what," Shields said.
McCarthy said he will continue looking for ways to increase the number of beat officers, suggesting he will focus on specialized units.
"We haven't even looked at other parts of the department that are actively engaged in crime work, and whether or not it's the most efficient use of our resources," McCarthy said. "For argument's sake, what is the size of our narcotics unit, why is it that size, and what are the results? What is the size of our gang unit, what is it that they're doing, what are their results?"
jebyrne@tribune.com
Twitter @ChiTribCloutSt
The Chicago Police Department announced that starting Thursday, 59 officers from special units and 55 with desk jobs in the patrol bureau will patrol beats across the city. The tally of officers reassigned to districts now stands at 881 by the mayor's count.
Mike Shields, president of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, said the city needs to hire new cops to address the department's vacancies, not just move officers around.
"There are 322 retirements year-to-date. There have been no new hires," Shields said. "The Emanuel administration is counting transfers as new officers on the street.
"This is a shuffle," Shields added. "If you keep saying 1,000 new officers are on the street, eventually people are going to believe it."
Unlike earlier redeployments, Emanuel said the latest crop of additional beat cops will be distributed among each of the city's 25 police districts. Previous moves focused on high-crime areas.
The mayor made the announcement alongside Ald. Harry Osterman, 48th, in the Broadway Armory on the North Side. Osterman campaigned on a promise to fight attempts to move police out of his neighborhoods into higher-crime areas.
Emanuel also used a specific set of Police Department statistics to say that his police strategy is "gaining traction." The data show crime was down 20 percent across Chicago from August through the first two weeks of September compared to the same time period last year.
According to Police Department numbers, homicides are down 31 percent during that time frame, shootings are down 21 percent and vehicle thefts are 12 percent below the 2010 mark for those six weeks.
The administration started the comparison on Aug. 1 because it took that long for earlier changes implemented by Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy to take effect, according to a mayoral spokeswoman.
Overall, Chicago homicides have dropped nearly 7.5 percent from January through July compared to the same period last year, according to numbers police officials released in mid-August. Vehicle thefts had increased by 16.8 percent increase through July.
While the mayor claimed some credit Wednesday, he also acknowledged the crime trend could change quickly.
"Everyone knows it can flip on you," Emanuel said. "It's a snapshot."
Shields asked: "If they take credit for the good, will they be here to take credit for the bad?
"Do Chicagoans really feel they are safer in the city? We are short officers, no matter what," Shields said.
McCarthy said he will continue looking for ways to increase the number of beat officers, suggesting he will focus on specialized units.
"We haven't even looked at other parts of the department that are actively engaged in crime work, and whether or not it's the most efficient use of our resources," McCarthy said. "For argument's sake, what is the size of our narcotics unit, why is it that size, and what are the results? What is the size of our gang unit, what is it that they're doing, what are their results?"
jebyrne@tribune.com
Twitter @ChiTribCloutSt