Chicago puts 114 more police on beat duty

There will soon be dozens more police officers on beat patrol in Chicago.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy announced Wednesday that 114 police officers assigned to special units and administrative jobs in the department will be reassigned to beat patrol.

Emanuel promised during his mayoral campaign that he would put 1,000 more police officers on the street. By his count, this latest move will bring to 881 the number of officers reassigned to street duty.

But critics say the number is far smaller because many of the officers were already working the streets in specialized units. Of the 114 officers who are part of this latest redeployment, 59 are now in special units and the other 55 now have administrative jobs in the department.