- Chicago already has registered more homicides than it did during all of last year. Now, the Chicago Police Department is on pace to break an all-time record that could make it more difficult to stop the bloodshed: police retirements in a single year.
Fraternal Order of Police President Mike Shields disclosed Monday that the ranks of 2012 retirees will top 580, breaking the old record of 570 in 2004.
Through Oct. 31, 475 officers had retired. According to Shields, an additional 105 officers met a Nov. 1 deadline to file the paperwork to take advantage of the city’s offer of premium health-care benefits for those who retire at 55.
Over the last decade, 4,178 city officers have retired from the force, an average of 417 officers a year.
Retirements ranged from 261 in 2009 to the previous high of 570.
Equally troubling to Shields is the fact that the city has hired just 190 officers so far this year.
That means Chicago is falling behind when it comes to police manpower after a three-year hiring slowdown and Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s decision to balance his first budget by eliminating more than 1,400 police vacancies, he said.
It's obvious to anyone who pays attention that hiring has not kept up with retirements for years now. Run any seniority lists for districts alone and the manpower shortages become apparent. Units disappeared. And the article states 1,400 vacancies were eliminated. Rahm is counting on the media's inability to add and compare numbers and keep citizens in the dark.