In an event with hundreds of police in attendance, as much pep rally as news conference, Johnson said the department will add 970 additional net, sworn personnel over the next two years, majority street officers.
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Johnson said that the decision to increase the police force came following discussions with the mayor but said that he had no information on how Chicago planned to pay for the addition of new officers.
Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told the Chicago Sun-Times on Wednesday that he “took a real hard look at it” and admitted “there’s no price for the safety of this city”. “This will go toward that end”.
The hiring plan includes more than 500 new police officers, and hundreds more to beef up the ranks of detectives and supervisors.
Johnson said the pressure was greater than ever for officers constantly being recorded with cellphone cameras.
“I owe you a department that is stronger in numbers, equipped for the 21st century, richer in skills and best practices to manage and challenge peacefully and honorably”, Johnson said.
Johnson said 200 new detectives would be added to try to improve the department’s low clearance rate for homicides. Calling respect “a two-way street”, Emanuel said there’s no pass for people to taunt police or for officers “belittling” citizens who need help, according to the prepared remarks.
Some law enforcement officials, including FBI Director James Comey, have suggested the release of viral videos, including the one of McDonald’s shooting, could be linked to the spikes in violence and may be prompting changes in the way officers are policing their cities.
“We’re going to get all the things we asked for”, Johnson said.
Chicago has seen a dramatic rise in the number of shootings and homicides this year.
The sworn officers will be hired over the next two years, bringing the department’s total number to about 13,500. August alone produced 90 homicides, making it one of the bloodiest months in the city’s history.
“What happened this year is new”, Emanuel said Wednesday, the day Chicago police announced the additional jobs. Emanuel’s administration has announced the proposed hiring of almost 1,000 new police officers and highlighted more support and mentorship of youth, a key theme he’s expected to address in the evening speech at a community college campus.
Chicago has been under intense national scrutiny for not only the number of homicides it has seen so far in 2016 (more than 500, and on pace to exceed 600, according to the Associated Press) but also for the fatal police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in 2014. During that time, the call for more officers in several city neighborhoods and from aldermen only has only gotten louder.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel gave a preview of his anticipated Thursday speech on public safety Wednesday at Malcolm X College.
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Johnson said the personnel hike is an outgrowth of his early days as police chief, when Emanuel asked him what the department could use if money was no obstacle. “What more policing will accomplish is more violence, more lock ups and more trauma for our already suffering communities”.
