Better management, please
Wednesday, Jan 4, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Chicago Tribune story earlier this year about a University of Chicago Crime Lab analysis done for the Chicago Police Department…
Patrol officer counts included a table that showed how many patrol officers in each district responded to 15 or more calls in one month that was examined. A response was counted when an officer reported that they were answering a 911 call or other dispatched events, such as a ShotSpotter alert.
For all districts combined, the number of officers responding to 15 or more calls per month was 3,000. There are 11,500 sworn officers in the department, with most assigned to patrol.
So, if that’s accurate, about 74 percent of all CPD officers are responding to 14 or fewer 911 calls per month.
* More recently from the Tribune…
Citywide, the wait for an officer to be dispatched topped an hour for more than 21,000 calls [in 2022], according to the city’s data. That was roughly 1 of every 24 high-priority calls.
So, that means there were 504,000 priority 911 calls in 2022, which works out to roughly 44 for each Chicago police officer, on average. And yet, there were massive wait times for some high-priority 911 calls.
The basic premise of both Tribune stories is that CPD isn’t properly allocating personnel, an argument echoed elsewhere…
The interim commission that oversees the Chicago Police Department released an analysis [in November] that found the department is not using its $1.94 billion budget “effectively or equitably” because it lacks “a long-term, data-driven strategy to reduce violence.”
The 16-page report was the first action of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability after it finally launched at the end of August, more than eight months behind schedule. […]
“Our spending on public safety is not delivering the results our communities need,” wrote commission President Anthony Driver in a letter to the City Council. “We need to spend better and more strategically. Workforce allocation problems also create untenable and unacceptable work conditions for Chicago police officers. They deserve better.”
[Hat tip: Stephanie Kollmann]
- Google Is Your Friend - Wednesday, Jan 4, 23 @ 1:30 pm:
Also important is that the city spent a decade trying to hide this information.
“The raw data analyzed by the Tribune is publicly available only because residents of the Austin neighborhood, with the ACLU of Illinois, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city a decade ago, demanding to know whether police response times in the city were slower in Black communities.”
October 2011-November 2021.
https://www.aclu-il.org/en/press-releases/settlement-reached-case-challenging-chicago-police-deployment
- Techie - Wednesday, Jan 4, 23 @ 1:37 pm:
It will be interesting to see how this information plays into the mayoral campaign. When candidates propose throwing more money into the CPD, how much will that really help if the department isn’t effectively using the resources it already has?
- Lurker - Wednesday, Jan 4, 23 @ 1:40 pm:
Divide the city into 4 quadrants and I’m guessing the numbers are more shocking.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Jan 4, 23 @ 1:43 pm:
===I’m guessing the numbers are more shocking===
They are.
- Socially DIstant watcher - Wednesday, Jan 4, 23 @ 1:46 pm:
CPD should also revisit how they assign officers to consider visa applications by crime victims.
https://news.wttw.com/2022/12/14/injustice-watch-investigation-examines-why-chicago-police-deny-crime-victims-specialized
Maybe they should reconsider how they put officers on desk duty and who they keep on the force.
- Shytown - Wednesday, Jan 4, 23 @ 3:27 pm:
These numbers are embarrassing.
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Jan 4, 23 @ 3:38 pm:
===Hat tip: Stephanie Kollmann===
If you aren’t checking out Stephanie Kollmann’s tweets, you’re missing out.
Mismanagement of policy reeks havoc in any industry or business.
Mismanagement of allocated resources in policing and law enforcement is putting society in a greater risk to an overall safety?
Can’t see any of this in a good spin light.
- Just a Citizen - Wednesday, Jan 4, 23 @ 3:44 pm:
Hope some one checks in 6 months to see if anything has changed.
- MyTwoCents - Wednesday, Jan 4, 23 @ 4:34 pm:
I’d be interested to know how many officers are assigned to be on the streets per shift city-wide. Where are those 3,000 officers responding to fewer 911 calls/month assigned? How many officers assigned to patrol are not in cars responding to calls on a regular basis? I’m of the opinion that sworn officers, unless there’s a good reason to be assigned to an administrative role, should be in operational assignments, patrol, special units, detectives, etc.
- Cool Papa Bell - Wednesday, Jan 4, 23 @ 4:41 pm:
The CPD is a $2 billion dollar operation and some still have the nerve to say there is a defund the police movement.
$2 billion folks. Everyone in that city deserves way more than they are getting for that kind of spending.
- Chicagonk - Wednesday, Jan 4, 23 @ 4:48 pm:
Most of the dysfunction of the CPD stems from Chicago machine politics. Undeserved promotions, political hires, etc.. Years of soft corruption coming home to roost.
- Amalia - Wednesday, Jan 4, 23 @ 7:36 pm:
If I’m doing a deep analysis of this, I’m doing it on a district basis. some districts are very large in geographic area. Some districts have more police officers per capita. time to response and differences in time of day use by district would be what I would look at. It may be time to look at how they create districts and redistricting in order.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Wednesday, Jan 4, 23 @ 10:07 pm:
=== It may be time to look at how they create districts and redistricting in order.===
The alders would complain a lot about any redistricting. Not saying you’re wrong, but that would definitely be an effect.