- The Chicago Police Department plans to free up a third of its force during a pair of international summits this spring by switching officers to 12-hour shifts, police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said.
The added hours will result in more money in the pockets of police after the G-8 and NATO conferences in May — a security tab Mayor Rahm Emanuel hopes will be picked up by the federal government.
"It's going to cost some money because we're going to go 12-hour tours, which means we're going to be paying out overtime," McCarthy recently told the Tribune.
The city's nearly 12,000-strong police force generally works in three 8 1/2-hour shifts. By adding 3 1/2 hours to the shift, McCarthy said he will be able to dedicate enough officers to the summits.
Of course, it's not couched in terms of public safety or the lack of a city-wide response unit or the almost criminal lack of manpower. No, the money quote is "The added hours will result in more money in the pockets of police...." as if we had enough money already and "Damn those greedy police officers for not working for free."
Personally, we're checking the money box every single day and hoping for a few canceled days off during the events.