As residents of Chicago deal with sustained murder rates and gun violence, the police department is looking for ways to combat it. Their latest attempt to resolve the issue was by adding 1,000 new officers, detectives, lieutenants, and sergeants within the next two years. 

“It will be in black and white in the budget—but I will say this—we are already paying for this today in lost lives,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “I’m determined that this is not a budget question, we won’t raise property taxes to pay for it, we’ll have the resources to pay for our obligations.”

According to NBC News, Supt. Eddie Johnson claims this is the department’s highest hiring period in years. Out of the 1,000 new hires, there will be 516 new officers, 92 field-training officers, 200 detectives, 112 sergeants and 50 lieutenants.

[Related: 642 Million Reasons Chicago Doesn’t Need More Police]

“Any movement towards increasing the overall population of the Chicago Police Department is not only the proper direction for the city to take,” said the Fraternal Order of Police in a statement. “But also, at a time when the city is facing a level of violence not witnessed in decades, the hiring of more Police Officers is an obvious necessity.”

This strategy goes directly against the one Mayor Emmanuel has used thus far by maintaining the number of officers in the department, but dishing out a high quantity of overtime hours. It also goes against calls from the community to dismantle and abolish the police.

 

Photo: Wiki Commons