Officials: 200 more cops to streets, stricter FOID enforcement
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By Mike Flannery, FOX 32 News Political Editor - bio
Mayor Emanuel, with Cleopatra and Nate Pendleton.
CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -
Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Thursday that 200 more police officers will be moved from desk duty to the street, allowing the department to "saturate" high-crime neighborhoods.
He said they'll join 570 who previously made that switch.
But Fraternal Order of Police Union President Mike Shields claims there are hundreds fewer cops on the street than when the mayor took office.
"We have about 400 less officers on the department and about 200 less on the street," Shields explains.
The Police Union President claimed Thursday's "redeployment" order was an effort by City Hall to obscure the fact that the number of officers overall is shrinking.
"We have applied more police officers totaling now 770, what used to do administrative desk jobs, are now on the street," Rahm said at the press conference.
Thursday's announcement by the mayor and his police superintendent came following nationwide shock and outrage at the murder of model student Hadiya Pendleton, less than a mile from President Obama's South Side home. An online petition drive urges the President to return to Chicago to attend the 15-year-old's funeral. A photo circulated of Mayor Emanuel visiting the victim's family yesterday.
Also responding Thursday was Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart. He called absurd the current practice of allowing dangerous individuals to keep their state-issued Firearm Owners ID cards even after the cards have formally been canceled.
"So, what we're proposing today is that for people who have a FOID card revoked, they have to return it within 48 hours," Dart said. "Within 48 hours they have to account for all of the weapons that they have."
The mayor promised that, by March 1st, 200 more Chicago police would be redeployed from what he called desk jobs to the most violent neighborhoods.
"While in the last year, as I said, we saw some reductions in burglary, robbery 8.5% in overall crime, we clearly saw an increase in both gun violence and overall crime," Emanuel said.
In recent weeks, Emanuel and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle have proposed new laws to crack down on those who don't report stolen, lost or sold guns.
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Mayor Emanuel, with Cleopatra and Nate Pendleton.
