Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson today announced two significant investments in the crime fight – 108 new police officers and five new patrol vehicles equipped with License Plate Reader Technology aimed at stopping carjackings and recovering stolen vehicles.

“Our officers are doing incredible work to build better relationships with residents and improve public safety all across the city, and we are going to continue to support them,” said Mayor Emanuel. “Today we are putting more officers on the street, and we are ensuring they have the best technology, the best tools and the best training so they can protect our communities.”

"I am honored to welcome these new officers to all parts of the city where they will serve and protect the lives, property, and rights of all Chicagoans," said Superintendent Johnson. "These 108 new officers have received the latest training and will be part of the positive change occurring every day throughout CPD. Through our continued investments, including the new technology equipped vehicles we are introducing today, we will make Chicago a safer city step by step."

More tools to stop carjackings
CPD is expanding the License Plate Reader technology to five more new patrol vehicles in an effort to reduce carjackings and recover stolen vehicles. The expansion builds off of a program launched in 2017, that supports the newly formed local, state and federal Vehicular Hijacking Task Force.

CPD has made over 20% more arrests for vehicular hijacking and this weekend an offender was federally charged for committing this crime last week.

108 new officers hitting the street
The 108 new police officers have left the Training Academy and are deployed to their first district assignments, part of the plan to grow CPD by nearly 1,000 officers. Two thirds of the newly assigned officers identify as minority.

After successfully completing their training at the Academy and initial field training, the 108 officers are now being sent to their first detail. The new officers will benefit from the new in-service training requirement, which begins with 16-hours of mandatory training and will necessitate that all Department members to take 40 hours of continuing education annually by 2021. As part of the implementation of the hiring plan, new officers will be deployed to districts each month into 2019.

The districts receiving new officers include:

• 1st (Central): 8 new officers
• 2nd (Wentworth): 15 new officers
• 4th (South Chicago):15 new officers
• 6th (Gresham): 10 new officers
• 7th (Englewood): 10 new officers
• 8th (Chicago Lawn): 12 new officers
• 11th (Harrison): 12 new officers
• 12th (Near West): 8 new officers
• 18th (Near North): 8 new officers
• 19th (Town Hall): 10 new officers

Since the Mayor and CPD launched its aggressive hiring plan, the Department has had a net increase of 1,037 sworn personnel compared to January 1, 2017, including accounting for all retirements, attrition and promotions that occurred throughout 2017 and into 2018. The City is on track to meet the Mayor’s plan of an additional over 1,000 more sworn personnel hired by the end of 2018.

During their six-months of training at the Police Academy, recruits learned all applicable laws and protocols for being a Chicago Police Officer. In addition to physical training, they received instruction in procedural justice, crisis intervention and de-escalation, use of force, community building and critical thinking. Recruits also received cultural awareness training at the DuSable Museum of African American History and the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. This was followed by three months of field training, during which officers are paired with Field Training Officers for hands-on guidance during their first in-the-field months.

These new officers have joined as part of CPD’s ongoing “Be the Change” recruitment campaign which reflects the belief that this new generation of police officers will lay the groundwork for a more diverse department and be future leaders who define how police support, protect and work together with Chicago's communities. The next police entry exam will take place on May 5th at McCormick Place.

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