Seems Like a Great Idea!

We're being sarcastic:

• The maximum age for a starting Chicago police officer or firefighter would rise from 40 to 55 under a controversial proposal to bolster hiring that was dismissed by union leaders as impractical.

  Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th), chair of the City’s Council’s Committee on Economic and Capital Development, acknowledged that policing and firefighting are, for the most part, a young person’s game.

  But in pushing the proposal, he argues there are still plenty of jobs, particularly in policing, that could be performed by rookies in their 50s.

Seriously?

• “When you talk about Lollapalooza, you’re not dealing with gangbangers and drug dealers,” Villegas said. “There’ll be occasional fights that break out, but it’s not like you’re going into a gang-infested area or trying to break up a drug deal.”

  “Crowds go there to have fun. Alcohol can be the fuel that starts something,” Villegas added. “But controlling rowdy crowds is something definitely a senior police officer could handle. That would allow younger police officers to get into these busy districts where crime is occurring and handle those.”

And a young, twenty-something (fueled by alcohol and assorted designer drugs) running up against a senior citizen (with all the usual wear-and-tear on an old body) is a recipe for disaster.

Not to mention that the kids will have a bunch more seniority on the seniors and therefore, will be bidding off the undesirable watches and out of the crappy districts far quicker than a senior citizen will be able to.

This is just dumb. 

Maybe hire senior citizens for the house mouse jobs and get able-bodied armed secretaries out on the street for the jobs they were hired to do?