Emanuel announces anti-crime proposal for Chicago
CHICAGO — Chicago mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel on Sunday proposed putting 1,000 more police officers on the streets as part of an anti-crime agenda he plans to put implement if he's elected to replace retiring Mayor Richard Daley.
Emanuel said he could put more police on the beat without "busting" the budget by targeting absenteeism, revamping a cadet program that lets young people get police experience and using tax-increment-financing money to pay for police to target high-crime areas.
"As mayor, I'll put 1,000 additional police on the streets, working closely with Chicago residents to fight the guns, the gangs and the drugs that now pervade," Emanuel said, according to prepared remarks provided by his campaign.
The former White House chief of staff to President Barack Obama is in a crowded contest of people who want Daley's job after the long-serving mayor decided not to seek a seventh term. The other major candidates, including former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, former Chicago school board president Gery Chico and City Clerk Miguel del Valle, have all been releasing their initiatives for the city as the Feb. 22 election approaches. If one candidate doesn't get more than 50 percent of the vote there will be an April runoff.
Emanuel's anti-crime plan also focuses on after-school programs and promises to advocate for tougher gun laws.
To get more police on the street, Emanuel promised to cut jobs at the central office and to crack down abuses of medical leave. He also said he would revamp a cadet program so officers can be relieved of administrative duties to go back on the street. The cadet program, according to Emanuel's campaign, lets college students learn about police work and he wants to overhaul it so they can take over some administrative duties from officers.
"That will enable more uniformed officers to go from behind the desk to back on the street," according to his remarks.
Emanuel and the three other major candidates have all said they plan to replace current Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis if elected. The former FBI agent whose nearly 3-year tenure has coincided with a drop in crime has been unpopular within his own force.