J-Fled Still Here

And touting his "almost changed the world" plan:

• The plan began with a study of 911 calls, but expanded to include other information on crime trends. The plan would have shifted 300 patrol officers from 11 districts to the remaining 14 districts. In addition, the study found that those 11 districts could still stand to lose another 60 officers, Weis said.

  In the past, patrol officers were reallocated based on “gut feelings” of their supervisors, Weis said. Chicago hasn’t conducted a comprehensive analysis of where patrol cops should be deployed in at least 30 years, he said.

So Weis ran into the brick wall that was Shortshanks because of one simple fact:

• Surprisingly, the study showed all of the districts on the Northwest Side needed more patrol officers, even though department statistics show two of them — Jefferson Park and Albany Park — are among the least violent ones in the city. Another low-crime district, Morgan Park on the Southwest Side, would have gotten more cops, too. They get a higher proportion of calls about property crimes such as burglary, which can take longer to process than calls about some violent crimes such as “shots fired” because many of those calls are bogus or can’t be substantiated, Weis said.

  High-crime districts on the Far South Side and Southeast Side would have gained officers, as would Austin and Harrison on the West Side and Marquette on the Southwest Side. And every North Side district east of the Chicago River, including the Near North District that covers the Magnificent Mile, would lose patrol officers. Several high-crime districts on the South Side, including Englewood, would have lost cops, too.

Aldercreatures and "reverends" wouldn't have stood for moving cops out of their 'hoods.

Once again, this is just more proof that a serious look has to be given to redistricting - not only redistricting, but redistricting on a semi-regular basis, like every three years or so. Not the 30+ years it's been now.