Chicago Police: Do We Hire More?
By Natasha Petrenko
There are many neighborhoods within the city of Chicago but have you ever stopped to think how many police stations there are? Chicago is a very large city and unfortunately has been battling with high crime rates. CBS actually ranked Chicago as one of the most dangerous cities in the United States.
According to an analysis of data from the City of Chicago Data Portal, there are 23 police stations and thousands of officers serving the city. Although those numbers seem high, we need to consider the number of people living in Chicago as well as the crime rates. Shootings and gun-related violence are major factors in Chicago’s crime rates in addition to burglaries and assault. How can Chicago reduce the number of these crimes? Some might argue that the city should hire more police officers to help cover more areas of the city’s neighborhoods. Additionally, there is an increase in the job outlook for police officers in general in the next few years.
Below is a map of Chicago neighborhoods highlighted in blue and police stations represented as the red pinpoints.
Here is another map of Chicago with data from the City of Chicago Data Portal, both Chicago police stations and all the crimes that have occurred through Jan. to Feb. of 2020 to put things in perspective.
Now the question is should Chicago hire more police officers or go about reducing crimes in other ways? The city already spends millions of dollars on the Chicago Police Department. Last fall, Mayor Lori Lightfoot expressed her frustration as she found out about the overtime funds being abused by the police department, which took even more money away from taxpayers. Something else to consider is that raising the size of the police force does not always decrease crime rates. We must consider that there are risks for over-policing which may bring tension between Chicagoans and police officers. An article from Vox presents other suggestions, such as changing certain laws that would help reduce crime rates in cities like Chicago. However, reducing crime in cities like Chicago will never be easy the question is where do we start?
