Shrinking CPD?

We were told this wasn't happening. That Conehed was hiring all sorts of Detectives....which means nothing since Detectives come from the rank of Patrolman:

• Civic Federation President Joe Ferguson has accused Mayor Brandon Johnson of “chopping away” at the Chicago Police Department to help balance his pre-election budget after three years of shrinking CPD by attrition, but the mayor apparently wanted to go further.

  Acting Police Superintendent Fred Waller told the City Council Wednesday he negotiated with the mayor’s office to keep the police academy going year-round.

  At Waller’s request, the mayor agreed to keep the training going for 12 months, with recruit classes of “50 or more,” he said.

"...50 or more..."

When we went through, classes were 160 or more and started every four to five weeks. We had to get to 1300 W Jackson at 0530 AM just to get a parking spot on the street....two blocks away.

• “The budget your department has been handed by this administration … has shown a steady decline in budgeted police officer positions,” downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) told Waller during Council budget hearings.

  “In 2024, 833 police officer positions were eliminated. In 2025, a net 54 officer positions were cut. Last year, only six were added back. This budget eliminates 132 more positions. Did the department ask for these reductions?”

  Waller replied: “Well, in negotiation for this year, the mayor’s office asked for those 132 positions. But we also negotiated for — instead of just having academy classes for about eight months of the year — we were given academy classes of 50 or more for the whole twelve months” of 2027.

  “That will allow us to catch up and have more robust recruitment,” he said.

  Last year, CPD hired 539 officers and lost 397 cops to retirement. So far this year, there have been 407 hirings and 363 retirements. The department is barely keeping pace with attrition.

Gee, if only someone was warning about this five, ten, even fifteen years ago.

The entire article is a glimpse into what we and others were predicting that many years ago....but all was ignored.