Emanuel Contests Data, Says More Chicago Police Officers On Streets
January 5, 2013 02:16:47 pm
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel insists that his city has “more police on the street doing policing” than when he took office, despite records that show the majority of police districts have fewer beat officers on patrol than they did two years ago, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. " took about 560 to 570 officers who were doing clerical work and moved `em onto the street. It’s a fact," the mayor said.
Emanuel didn't mention that the city ended 2012 with 506 homicides, a 16 percent increase over 2011. He did say that burglaries are down 15 percent and both auto theft and robberies have declined, "and you don't get that by having fewer officers." The Sun-Times says that as of Oct. 15, 6,638 rank-and-file officers were assigned to police beats citywide, down from 6,746 at the start of 2011.