CHICAGO, IL - In the months following the death of George Floyd, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) was one of the many police departments across the country who lost funding due to the "defund the police" movement.
Now, more than three years after the Windy City is on track to spend a record $2 billion on the police department.
Mayor Brandon Johnson, who was sworn in at the beginning of 2023, was a strong advocate for defunding the police, saying back in 2020, "I don't look at it as a slogan. It's an actual political goal."
However, in his first budget after being elected in April, the city proposed maintaining staffing at 14,137 full-time positions while also increasing funding to the CPD by five percent, upping the budget to $1.99 billion.
Back in 2020, prior to the defund the police movement, CPD had 14,709 full-time positions budgeted and had spent $1.76 billion. In 2021, the city reduced those positions by 614 and cit funding by two-point-seven percent.
In the years after 2021, the department grew in size and in budget. The city maintained its staffing levels for 2023 as they were for 2022, but the city reported a 30 percent increase in crime in 2022.
Data shows that murders were down 13 percent from 804 in 2021 to 699 in 2022, but the city said that property crime drove the spike in crime and was up an astounding 44 percent in 2022 compared to 2021. Violent crime in general was up one percent in 2022 as compared to 2021.
During his campaign trail in 2023, Johnson changed his tune and said that he wanted to increase staffing for police officers. He said, "That's why in my public safety plan we are going to promote, train and hire 200 more detectives so that we can actually solve crime in the city of Chicago."
According to a WTTW New analysis, the number of sworn CPD officers remained steady during Johnson's first 100 days in office.
On Johnson's first full day in office there were 12,360 employees and on his 100th day there were 12,363 employees. The number of sworn officers also remained steady with 11,720 on duty as of May 1, 2023 and 11,722 on the force as of August 1, 2023.
Approximately 1,000 officers left the CPD in 2022, but nearly 950 officers were also hired during that year, the most since 2018. This was also the last time the city stepped up its efforts to hire more police in response to the increase in crime.
Just before the mayoral election on February 28th, city officials and the police union reached an agreement for officers to return to the department on an expedited basis and to streamline the hiring process for officers who wanted to leave their current departments and join CPD.
Since March 1st, 46 former CPD officers have rejoined the department through the re-hire program. According to a department spokesperson, more are supposed to go through the re-hire process as the year progresses.
Johnson has not yet committed to filling all of CPD's 1,730 vacant positions and recommending the elimination of all or some of those jobs could have significant policy implications.
Johnson has also endorsed a proposal known as "Treatment Not Trauma," which calls for CPD's budget to be reduced to reopen mental health clinics and establish a citywide program that would send emergency medical technicians and mental health professionals to calls for help from those in crisis.
If Johnson were to eliminate some or all of those vacant CPD positions, a significant amount of money would free up. However, members of the city council blame the vacancies in the police department for the fact that crime and violence in Chicago have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.
Now, more than three years after the Windy City is on track to spend a record $2 billion on the police department.
Mayor Brandon Johnson, who was sworn in at the beginning of 2023, was a strong advocate for defunding the police, saying back in 2020, "I don't look at it as a slogan. It's an actual political goal."
However, in his first budget after being elected in April, the city proposed maintaining staffing at 14,137 full-time positions while also increasing funding to the CPD by five percent, upping the budget to $1.99 billion.
Back in 2020, prior to the defund the police movement, CPD had 14,709 full-time positions budgeted and had spent $1.76 billion. In 2021, the city reduced those positions by 614 and cit funding by two-point-seven percent.
In the years after 2021, the department grew in size and in budget. The city maintained its staffing levels for 2023 as they were for 2022, but the city reported a 30 percent increase in crime in 2022.
Data shows that murders were down 13 percent from 804 in 2021 to 699 in 2022, but the city said that property crime drove the spike in crime and was up an astounding 44 percent in 2022 compared to 2021. Violent crime in general was up one percent in 2022 as compared to 2021.
During his campaign trail in 2023, Johnson changed his tune and said that he wanted to increase staffing for police officers. He said, "That's why in my public safety plan we are going to promote, train and hire 200 more detectives so that we can actually solve crime in the city of Chicago."
According to a WTTW New analysis, the number of sworn CPD officers remained steady during Johnson's first 100 days in office.
On Johnson's first full day in office there were 12,360 employees and on his 100th day there were 12,363 employees. The number of sworn officers also remained steady with 11,720 on duty as of May 1, 2023 and 11,722 on the force as of August 1, 2023.
Approximately 1,000 officers left the CPD in 2022, but nearly 950 officers were also hired during that year, the most since 2018. This was also the last time the city stepped up its efforts to hire more police in response to the increase in crime.
Just before the mayoral election on February 28th, city officials and the police union reached an agreement for officers to return to the department on an expedited basis and to streamline the hiring process for officers who wanted to leave their current departments and join CPD.
Since March 1st, 46 former CPD officers have rejoined the department through the re-hire program. According to a department spokesperson, more are supposed to go through the re-hire process as the year progresses.
Johnson has not yet committed to filling all of CPD's 1,730 vacant positions and recommending the elimination of all or some of those jobs could have significant policy implications.
Johnson has also endorsed a proposal known as "Treatment Not Trauma," which calls for CPD's budget to be reduced to reopen mental health clinics and establish a citywide program that would send emergency medical technicians and mental health professionals to calls for help from those in crisis.
If Johnson were to eliminate some or all of those vacant CPD positions, a significant amount of money would free up. However, members of the city council blame the vacancies in the police department for the fact that crime and violence in Chicago have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.
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