In the next two years, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said he plans to hire close to 1,000 new police officers – and today is the last day to apply.
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According to the figured, the mass hiring will include 200 new detectives, 516 officers, 112 sergeants and 50 lieutenants.
“We’re going to add officers to areas experiencing violent crime, and we’re going to fill vacancies in districts in communities across the city. And so because Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s, because of his strong support, we’re going to get all the things that we ask for,” Johnson said in a press conference.
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Earlier this year, Johnson sat down with Mayor Rahm Emanuel to address the growing rates of murder and crime in the city. Rahm said the answer to the city’s evolving crime problems is more officers to work the streets, as well as increased promotions to relieve the burden on overloaded detectives and supervisors.
“The truth is, we can’t pull officers from the safer communities into the more violent ones. Gang members will figure that out and shift their operations. I’m confident that these added resources will make us better and give us the capacity we need to address our crime problems across the city,” Johnson said further in his statement.
“Because we stretched them so thin, I think we’ve seen some really disappointing repercussions in our communities,” 45th Ward Alderman John Arena said in a statement.
With the proposal by Johnson, the number of officers will reportedly increase from 12,656 to 13,535 by the end of 2018.
Mayor Emanuel relied on police overtime to fight Chicago street violence in the city over the past five years.
Alderman said, back in 2015, officials paid about $800 million in overtime pay, which they said would go a long way toward paying for the new officers the city hopes to hire.
So, if you’re interested or know someone looking for a job, check out the application here. It is the last day, after all.
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