Police Department Shifting 92 More Officers To Streets
Updated 07/17/11 - 5:09 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Supt. Garry McCarthy are putting another 92 officers of the street – 53 of them are rookies, new graduates from the police academy.
The other 39 are being shifted from administrative duties elsewhere in the department.
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"Successful policing begins with the beat officers who earn the trust of the communities they serve, shift by shift and patrol by patrol," Emanuel said. "These police recruits have made that commitment to our residents, and are ready to join officers in Chicago's neighborhoods to help make every community a safe place to work, play, learn and build a life."
As CBS 2's Derrick Blakley reports, starting Thursday, 53 probationary police officers, who graduated from the academy last spring, will be deployed to six different districts – South Chicago, Gresham, Chicago Lawn, Ogden, Austin and Rogers Park.
Also starting Thursday, 39 officers who had been working administrative positions will be redeployed to the streets in 13 districts – Central, Grand Crossing, South Chicago, Calumet, Gresham, Englewood, Deering, Ogden, Austin, Near North, Morgan Park, Town Hall and Rogers Park.
Just after making the announcement at Palmer Park, in the violence-plagued Roseland neighborhood, Emanuel and McCarthy were confronted by Roseland minister Gregory Livingston, who said more cops should be moved from less violent areas to stem the shootings in Roseland.
But Emanuel said that getting more cops on the street has been his priority, with nearly 750 officers moved from specialized units and administrative duties to basic patrol since he was sworn in. That includes five officers shifted from City Hall to the streets.
"We trained officers to be policemen and women. We did not train them to do clerical work. We did not train them to do administrative work. And we did not train them to be in City Hall. We trained them to be in our community.
McCarthy insisted that Roseland is not starved for police resources, saying that the area has one of the highest deployments of cops in the city.
The superintendent also said that two key gang conflicts are partially to blame for the spike in violence there – and police have a strategy to deal with it.
The latest redeployment will be the third time since Emanuel took office that officers have been reassigned from other duties to work the beats in various districts.
In May, 500 officers were reassigned from various specialized units to the streets. In June, another 150 officers were shifted from administrative duties to the streets.
