Despite plenty of hype about “more police” being added to the Chicago Police Department’s 19th District over the past year, the Town Hall station actually has three fewer cops this month than one year ago.
That’s according to new police staffing data released in 44th Ward Alderman Tom Tunney’s newsletter today.
The district, which stretches from Fullerton to Lawrence and the Chicago River to Lake Michigan, is staffed by 375 cops today, compared to 378 last June and 468 officers in October 2011.
No, that is not a typo. 468.
Police manpower in the district is actually down by 20% compared to 2011.
Staffing is only “up” if it is compared to how anemically low it fell on the watches of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and all of the area’s currently-serving aldermen.
At its worst, in October 2015, the district had just 326 police officers assigned to it.
Sources within the 19th District report that, while some newly-graduated probationary police officers and veteran cops have joined the district over the past year, even more officers have retired or transferred out of the district.
