Mayor Rahm Emanuel promised more beat cops, but the city is actually operating with fewer officers than when he took office more than 18 months ago, a published report indicates.
The Chicago Sun-Times, citing its own data analysis, reported Monday that personnel retirements have outpaced the number of sworn officers added to the ranks:
... as of Oct. 15, a total of 6,638 rank-and-file officers were assigned to police beats citywide, down from 6,746 beat cops at the start of 2011, according to the data obtained by the Sun-Times....
Police Supt. Garry McCarthy, as late as September, insinuated he had enough officers and said effective strategies, not staffing numbers, help reduce crime.
"I can walk through the door with Mayor Emanuel and find 600 officers that are behind desk duty," McCarthy said three months ago following the release of a Chicago Crime Commission report that implored the city to increase police manpower. "It's what they're doing and where they are [that's important]."
The Fraternal Order of Police long has said the police department needs to hire more officers and has called redeploying them from desk duty "smoke and mirrors."
