DNAInfo tonight reports that 44th ward Alderman Tom Tunney is joining City Council progressives as well as Lincoln Park Alderman Michele Smith, Gold Coast Alderman Brendan Reilly, and others in proposing that next year’s city budget allow for the hiring of “500 more police officers.”
It is not clear if that is 500 officers in addition to the already-scheduled hiring that would keep up with next year’s expected attrition or if it is a grand total of 500 officers. Semantics, you know.
The devil is always in the details, especially when politicians, police, and numbers are involved.
Taken at face value, though, we are very pleased to see Alderman Tunney stepping up to the plate with an influential group of his fellow aldermen.
We hope to learn more about the plan and see our police force grow rather than continue to shrink.
Most important to our neighborhood, though, is getting replacements for the 100+ officers that we have lost since 2012. There’s another long, hot summer coming and it will be a disaster without replenishment.
We’re going to pretend that this proposal isn’t DOA and simply a way for the sponsors to gain political cover.
