Overstaffed? Understaffed?

Twisting the numbers until they scream in pain:

• A long-awaited, detailed study of the Chicago Police Department’s workforce allocation is now public and some of its findings will surprise the department’s biggest critics.

  One headline: some of the city’s most violence-plagued police districts were found to be among the most overstaffed in the city, while some districts considered safe and affluent were found to be understaffed.

The metric being used? Something they call "proactive time:"

• The 767-page report by Matrix Consulting Group examined CPD’s workforce from countless angles, but no section is likely to generate more discussion than its district-by-district breakdown of patrol effectiveness.

  The firm measured something it calls “proactive time,” the share of an officer’s on-duty hours not consumed by handling calls. The idea is that officers need breathing room beyond just answering calls to do proactive policing, community engagement, and problem-solving. Matrix set a minimum target of 40%.

  Citywide, CPD is barely clearing that bar at 40.1%. But the overall number, the study argues, conceals severe inequality across the department’s 22 districts. But those inequalities affect Chicagoans of all races and incomes in neighborhoods across the city, according to the study.

And the numbers being tossed around?

• The most overstaffed district in the city, according to Matrix, is the Lincoln (20th) District, which stretches from the north end of Uptown through Edgewater. Officers there have a proactive time rate of 63%, meaning nearly two-thirds of their on-duty hours are uncommitted. The firm calculated that if the city were to simply redistribute officers to bring every district to the 40% floor, Lincoln would lose 50 of its 135 officers.
• More startling still is what the study says about Englewood. The 7th District, which recorded 141 shooting victims in 2025 and is routinely among the most violent areas in the city, ranked as the second-most overstaffed district in CPD at 56% proactive time. A pure reallocation approach would strip nearly a quarter of Englewood’s officers, a cut of 53 positions.

These are ridiculous findings.

But Larritorious sees an opportunity:

• Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling and other officials said the proposed changes would allow for better supervision, greater opportunities for community policing and more consistent response times across neighborhoods.

  But Snelling said the study isn’t just a call for increased manpower — it’s guidance “to help us become the most efficient department that we can possibly be.”

  [...] The study, commissioned by the City Council over two years ago and conducted by the Matrix Consulting Group, found major “work load inequality” that has resulted in inconsistent services and inadequate supervision. It identifies the need for at least 273 additional patrol officers and 132 sergeants, but also calls for moving about 600 officers out of jobs that could be filled by civilians.

  Civilian positions cost less than those held by sworn officers, and moving cops out of those roles could help fill gaps in patrol. Shifting those 600 officers to the street could ultimately help the department reach the goals identified in the study for adding more officers and sergeants.

This just sounds like another empty promise to gut hidden positions, none of which we believed during our careers and none of which we'll believe moving forward until there are actual parking spots open at HQ and the Academy instead of dozens of cars parked in aisles, over curbs and in the grass medians. 

Rumor

How many officers are we talking about?

• Off topic.. The entire caps office in 012 failed to qualify with their primary weapons and are pending the 7 hr mandatory firearms refresher

Far too many cops fire thirty rounds, once-a-year, at qualification time. That isn't nearly enough to be even remotely proficient at using what is arguably the most important tool on your person.

Someone is going to argue, "How many times would a CAPS officer need to use their gun?" and the answer is, "If it's even once, you better be capable." 

Crime is Down?

We're beginning to have our doubts.

Maybe it's the ages of crime victims that are down?

• A family had simply pulled over to find a house where they were to meet an out-of-town guest when a 16-year-old on probation for armed robbery walked up to the driver’s side, took a shooting stance and opened fire, leaving their 12-year-old son with a fractured skull, bullet fragments on his brain and temporarily paralyzed, prosecutors say.

  The pulled over in the 900 block of North Leamington to locate the address around 6:45 p.m. on February 3, prosecutors said. The 12-year-old was in the backseat next to his 1-year-old sibling. As the father searched for the house, he saw Nasir Pitts approach on the driver’s side and take a shooting stance, according to a detention filing.

  The father screamed for the family to get down as Pitts allegedly fired five shots, striking the boy in the head. Prosecutors said the father sped away from the scene while the mother called 911. Officers and paramedics caught up with them and transported the boy to a hospital, where doctors found a fractured skull and bullet fragments in his brain. He suffered temporary paralysis and continues to receive treatment, the detention filing said.

The sixteen-year-old shooter was ::surprise!:: on probation for an armed robbery....committed when he was fourteen.

The twelve-year-old victim wasn't the youngest crime victim by the way:

• A young girl was among three people shot Wednesday on the city's South Side, Chicago police said. All three victims were reported to be in good condition after escaping with their lives from what appeared to be a barrage of bullets.

  The shooting happened just after 4:45 p.m. in the Lake Meadows Shopping Center at East 35th Street and South King Drive i n Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood, right outside Baskin Robbin's and Subway restaurants.

  The victims, an 8-year-old girl, a 28-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man, were at the location when a dark-colored SUV approached and at least one person fired shots at them from the vehicle, police said.

  The girl was shot in the foot, the woman was shot in the knee, and the man had multiple gunshot wounds, including to his arm and chest. CPD said. They were all taken to hospitals and were reported to be in good condition.

At least we're not New York....yet. A seven-MONTH-old in a stroller caught a stray round and died Wednesday.

Fill in the Blanks

Did the changes finally drop?

• …this matches our last list that was delayed because of vetting delays in the mayors office.
  
  
  
  DC BoCT to Chief BoCT.
  
  Cmdr 005 to DC Academy.
  
  Lt M. BIA to Cmdr BIA.
  
  Lt B. Const. Policing to Cmd Const. Policing.
  
  Lt TP Detail Section to Cmdr Detail Section.
  
  Cmdr (PO) Detail Section to P.O. in OCD.
  
  (New) Captain Frogie to Cmdr 005
  
  Cmdr 012 to Deputy Chief A/3.

"vetting delays" probably means they have outstanding tickets, fines, lawsuits or they haven't taken their Ethics Test yet this year. And they waited until 01 April for payroll purposes. 

 

UPDATE: Here's some of the names from another emailer:

• Chris Papaioannou to Chief of Counterterrorism

  Karla Johnson to Dep Chief of Constitutional Policing

  Lt Tim Parker to Commander Detached Servuces (Mayors unit?)

  Lt Berlage to Cmdr Wellness & Support Group

  Lt Jonathan Medina to Cmdr IAD

  Jimmy Baier to Dep Chief A/3

  Cap Greg Froggy Jackson to 005 Cmdr

  Demotion: Harold Lewis back to P.O.

Lewis had something to do with the Conehead detail.

Cause and Effect Alexi

From the Contrarian X / Twitter feed, pointing out Giannoulias's campaign commercial:

• [Giannoulias] Car insurance premiums are crushing Illinois families. We are fighting back! Our bill has passed the House and now heads to the Senate. Please call your senator and urge them to support Senate Bill 1486.
• [Contrarian]  Interesting how Alexi omits the fact over 23K cars are stolen in Chicago every year.
  
  
  This number excludes vehicular hijackings.
  
  
  CPD won’t even send a car to your house when someone calls 911 to report their car stolen.
  
  
  CPD will not chase a stolen car.
  
  
  CPD will not investigate hit and run crashes unless the collision results in great bodily harm or death.

Insurance companies aren't in the business of losing money, so they increase rates based on real actuarial recommendations and studies that show democrat policies of rewarding crime instead of punishing it are money losers for them, so you're going to pay a pretty penny for basic coverage. 

RIP Firefighter Altman

Private funeral was yesterday:

• Friends and loved ones of fallen Chicago firefighter Michael Altman said their final goodbyes during a funeral Tuesday morning in southwest suburban Oak Lawn.

  The private funeral service was held at the Blake-Lamb funeral home at 4727 W. 103rd St. after planned services on Friday were canceled when Altman’s wife went into labor Thursday.

  Despite steady rain, first responders and community members lined the street outside the funeral home as Altman’s casket, draped in a Chicago flag, was carried to a procession bound for his final resting place at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Alsip.

  Altman, a firefighter and EMT, died March 17 from injuries he suffered the day before while fighting a fire in a Rogers Park apartment. The blaze was in a four-story building in the 1700 block of West North Shore Avenue. Altman fell after the floor collapsed, fire officials said.

The weather matched the mood of the day.

Monday Night Wilding

Reports of a rowdy teen "takeover" in the streets of Hyde Park Monday night after daytime temps had topped off in the upper-70s.

Video is mostly on social media sites that we don't patronize, but it's good to see / hear that the non-demonized yutes are terrorizing the people that voted for exactly this type of behavior. 

Hopefully they saw it up close and personal, because it's going to get even worse as the weather warms further and school lets out in a few months.

Crime Still Down

Meanwhile, another passerby (tourist? day tripper?) manages to catch a round with her leg just off the Mag Mile:

• A woman was shot while walking at one of the busiest intersections along the Magnificent Mile on Monday evening, the unintended victim of a gunman who was trying to shoot someone else nearby, Chicago police said.

  The shooting happened around 9:27 p.m. in the first block of East Chicago Avenue, just west of Michigan Avenue, and set off a chain of events that left a man’s car riddled with bullets and caused a three-car collision along one of the city’s most heavily trafficked commercial strips.

  Police said a 22-year-old man was driving a red sedan when someone in a white sedan pulled up and opened fire on his vehicle. The red sedan was struck multiple times, but the driver was not injured.

  But a 25-year-old woman walking nearby was not as lucky. A bullet struck her in the left thigh, CPD said. She was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in fair condition.

Maybe Conehead can start a "Tour Chicago Emergency Rooms" type of tour?

Attempted Murder Charges

For all the "crime is down" we keep hearing, there sure are a lot of people pointing (and firing) guns at police:

• A non-compliant sex offender with two active warrants, now accused of trying to murder a Chicago Police Officer, bragged to cops who arrested him that he just got out of prison for beating other police officers, prosecutors say.

  Menard Allison, 34, was ordered detained Tuesday on charges of attempted first-degree murder of a peace officer and several other felonies stemming from a Saturday night encounter near 67th and Halsted streets that started like a slapstick comedy but soon turned deadly serious.

  [...] Prosecutors said he fled into the parking lot of Kennedy King College, where, by coincidence, a third uniformed officer in a marked car was just pulling in on patrol. That officer saw Allison running from the other unit, and his in-car camera recorded what happened next: Allison allegedly pointed a handgun with his right hand at the officer’s car and fired multiple shots. The camera captured several muzzle flashes and a blue laser beam trained on the squad car, as well as a bullet striking the pavement between Allison and the vehicle, prosecutors said. No injuries were reported. 

Just in case anyone forgot, if you're in a car and someone is shooting at you, you are permitted to run them over with the vehicle - deadly force met with deadly force - and in this case, all the evidence you need is being recorded by the dash cam. Nice to see they kept this one in custody.

Great Training

You may have heard a Secret Service agent protecting Mrs Drooling Vegetable "accidentally" shot himself in the "leg" the other day.

It wasn't an accident....and it wasn't in the leg:

Story here.