Local Police District Down 48 Beat Officers in 2012

There are fewer officers patrolling the streets in Lincoln Square, according to a recent look at Chicago Police Department staffing numbers. 

A Chicago Sun-Times analysis found that since Mayor Rahm Emanuel took office, there are fewer beat officers across the city. Many districts on the North Side were hit hard, it indicates.

While the 20th District shows a loss of 14 officers, the 19th shows a decrease of 34, the report says. Both districts cover parts of Lincoln Square and were among those losing the most officers. Joining them were the 12th, 13th, 24th and with the highest loss of 79 officers, the 2nd District.

The Sun-Times reports:

The reason is simple: For every newly hired officer assigned to a beat during the past two years, six other sworn members of the department have retired.

And because about 1,200 retirements have sharply depleted the payroll, rank-and-file police staffing even in some high-crime areas where new officers were added last year is again declining, the Sun-Times found.

The analysis further discovered that while since May 2011, nine districts have seen an increase in beat officers, the total number in Chicago has fallen by 108—a direct contradiction to Emanuel's inauguration promise to increase the beat officer ranks.

Reporters Dan Mihalopoulos and Frank Main found that the number of beat officers in the city did rise in the fall of 2011, but began to decline soon after.

Read the full story: Rahm Emanuel’s police deployment shuffle

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