Source: Chicago Police Department |
Despite recent campaign promises to replenish our neighborhood’s decimated police force, the number of officers protecting Wrigleyville and Boystown remains near its all-time low, newly secured city documents show.
The manpower count, released by the CPD’s Human Resources Department shows that 345 officers are currently assigned to the 19th district, down from 468 officers in October 2011 and down slightly from 351 officers last April.
While 345 officers are technically assigned here, approximately 20% are “detailed out”—meaning that they actually do their work in other areas of the department.
On top of the 20% who are detailed out, roughly 6% of the district’s manpower is committed to Beat 1926, the official designation for the police units that sit outside of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s home around the clock.
The 19th district is one of the city’s largest. It covers the area from Fullerton to Lawrence and from Lake Michigan west to the Chicago River.
The latest manpower documents were released by the department in response to a reader’s Freedom of Information Act request.