- This has been a tumultuous year for the Chicago Police Department. A new superintendent shook up long-established units, thousands of city cops got new assignments, and, according to new stats from the Independent Police Review Authority. Deadly force is up significantly in 2011.
Chicago police officers were involved in more shootings the first nine months of this year than all of last year. Up to today, according to police records, officers here have shot 59 people, killing 22 of them -- nearly twice as many as last year. In all of 2010, Chicago police-involved shootings claimed 13 lives.
Fraternal Order of Police officials say the increase in shootings by officers is a result of understaffing and of gang and drug units being gutted -- all of which F.O.P. spokesman Pat Camden says allows more guns to stay on the street.
At least Pat is out there explaining exactly why the numbers are up. And it's the fault of the criminals, not the police as Goudie implies.