Nearly 140 Chicago police officers will move from jail lockups to beat patrols, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy announced today.By the administration's count, the latest move means 1,019 more cops are on beat patrol since Emanuel took office in mid-May.
During the campaign, Emanuel said he would put 1,000 more officers on city streets. As the mayor started redeploying officers, police union leaders said Emanuel was merely shuffling officers around. Many of those moved to beats already were on the streets in special crime units and the like, union leaders said.
In recent weeks, Emanuel has changed his phrasing, saying he's putting more cops "on the beat" instead of "on the street."
Today, Emanuel acknowledged that hundreds of the officers already were on the street.
“Around 600 were administrative positions that are now driving our streets and are in our neighborhoods,” Emanuel said at a news conference. “Prior to that they were in our buildings. The way you fight crime is with a beat officer, not a bureaucrat.”
The city plans to hire 104 civilian detention aides to replace the officers who were working at the jails. Emanuel said he hopes to have them on the job by December. Several lockups also will be consolidated, which allows 34 more officers to be redeployed to beats, the administration said.
