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The Chicago Police Department, also known as the CPD, is the principal law enforcement agency of the City of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States, under the jurisdiction of the city mayor. It is the largest police department in the Midwest and the second largest in the United States after the New York City Police Department with over 13,400 sworn officers and over 1,850 other employees. Dating back to 1837, the Chicago Police Department is one of the oldest modern police forces in the world.[citation needed]
[edit] StructureThe Superintendent of Police leads the Chicago Police Department. The Superintendent manages four bureaus, each commanded by a Deputy Superintendent. The two Assistant Superintendents manage day-to-day operations, reporting directly to the Superintendent. The Assistant Superintendent of Operations is James B. Jackson. The Assistant Superintendent of Administration is Beatrice Cuello. Jody P. Weis was sworn in as Superintendent of Police on February 1, 2008. Weis has become only the second Chicago police chief to come from outside the city. He replaced Philip J. Cline, who officially retired on August 3, 2007. Under Weis's leadership, the Department underwent many structural changes. As of January 2009, the four Bureaus of the Department are:
[edit] Bureau of Investigative ServicesInvestigative functions are under the Bureau of Investigative Services (BIS). The Bureau of Investigative Services is composed of the Detective Division, the Counterterrorism and Intelligence Division and the Organized Crime Division (OCD). The Detective Division includes the five Area Detective Divisions, the Cold Case Unit, Fugitive Apprehension Unit, Major Accidents Investigation Section and the Forensic Services Section which includes the Mobile Crime Lab of Forensic Investigators, ET-North and ET-South - which are the two Evidence Technician Units. The Counterterrorism and Intelligence Division includes the Deployment Operations Center Section, the Intelligence Section, the Airport Law Enforcement Section, the Public Transportation Section, and the Bomb and Arson Section. The Organized Crime Division includes the Narcotics Section,Gang Investigations Section, Gang Enforcement Section and the Vice Control Section. The Chief of Detectives heads the Detective Division, the Chief of Organized Crime heads that division--both reporting to the Deputy Superintendent BIS. Two Deputy Chiefs assist the Chief of Detectives while one Deputy Chief assists the Chief of OCD. The city is covered by five Detective Division Areas each lead by a Commander: Area 1 (Wentworth) and Area 2 (Calumet) covers the south and southwest sides, while Area 3 (Belmont), Area 4 (Harrison) and Area 5 (Grand Central) covers the north, west and northwest sides of the city. [edit] Bureau of PatrolThe Bureau of Patrol includes the twenty-five districts. Also included in the Bureau of Patrol are the Special Functions Group, the Targeted Response Unit, The Marine/Helicopter Unit, the Mounted Unit, the Mobile Strike Force, SWAT, the Traffic Section, and the Canine Unit Following the disbanding of the Special Operations Section in 2007 after much negative publicity and controversies, the Special Functions Group was formed to absorb the specialized units that were not associated with the controversial plain-clothes unit known informally as SOS. A full-time SWAT team, organized in 2005, includes 70 members. The dignitary protection unit, based out of O'Hare International Airport, is the only unit that utilizes two-wheeled motorcycles. The Mounted Unit maintains 30 horses as of December 2006. The marine unit maintains 9 boats. [edit] Ranks
[edit] InsigniaChicago's five-pointed star-shaped badge (referred to as "star" vice "badge" in the vernacular of the department) also changes to reflect the different castes of officers. The stars of most Chicago Police officers (patrolmen through captain) are of silver-colored metal, with broad points. Command ranks have gold-colored stars with sharp points. A ring surrounding the full-color City seal in the star's center changes color for each rank within these two classifications. Like most American police forces, the officer's rank is written in an arc above the center element. The Chicago Police Department's shoulder sleeve insignia, worn on the top of the left sleeve, is unusual in two regards.
Service longevity is reflected just above the left cuff on long-sleeved uniforms. Five years of service are indicated by a horizontal bar, embroidered in gold-colored thread; ten years by two bars; fifteen by three bars; twenty by a five-pointed star, embroidered in gold colored thread; twenty-five by one star and one bar and so-forth. An embroidered rendering of the Flag of Chicago, its borders finished in gold-colored thread, is worn on the right shoulder sleeve. A two-part nameplate in gold-colored metal is worn above the right pocket. The upper portion bears the officer's name; the lower portion indicates the command to which the officer is assigned. The Chicago Police Department is one of only four in the United States to use the chequered bands on its headgear, known as the Sillitoe Tartan after its originator, Percy J. Sillitoe, Chief Constable of Glasgow, Scotland in the 1930s. Whereas British and Australasian Sillitoe tartans feature three rows of smaller squares, Chicago's has two rows of larger squares. The chequerboard colours for patrolmen and detectives (detectives are occasionally uniformed for ceremonies and details) are blue and silver/white; the colours for sergeants and higher ranks are blue and gold. Service caps, the campaign hats of the mounted unit, bicycle helmets, and knit caps all bear the Sillitoe tartan; the edge of the ball caps' bills show a narrow, flattened Silitoe tartan. The department also use the pattern on some signage, graphics, and architectural detail on newer police stations. [edit] PayStarting salary for Chicago police officers is $43,104, increased to $55,723 after one year and an additional increase to $58,896 after 18 months. Promotions to specialized or command positions also increases an officer's base pay. Salaries are supplemented with a $2,920 annual duty availability and an $1,800 annual uniform allowance. [1] [edit] Demographics
[edit] Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (C.A.P.S.)Main article: Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy The Chicago Police Department is often credited for advancing community policing through the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy program. Popularly known by its acronym C.A.P.S., it was established in 1992 and implemented in 1993 by then-Chicago Police Superintendent Matt L. Rodriguez. CAPS is an ongoing effort to bring communities, police, and other city agencies together to prevent crimes rather than react to crimes after they happen. The program entails increasing police presence in individual communities with a force of neighborhood-based beat officers. Beat Community Meetings are held regularly for community members and police officials to discuss potential problems and strategies. Under CAPS, eight or nine beat officers are assigned to each of Chicago's 279 police beats. The officers patrol the same beat for over a year, allowing them to get to know community members, residents, and business owners and to become familiar with community attitudes and trends. The system also allows for those same community members to get to know their respective officers and learn to be comfortable in approaching them for help when needed. Beat officers are fully equipped and patrol their neighborhoods in a variety of methods: by bike, by car, or by foot. [edit] Early yearsIn 1825, prior to the creation of Cook County, what is now Chicago was in Peoria County. Archibald Clybourn was appointed to be Constable of the area between the DuPage River and Lake Michigan. Clybourn went on to become an important citizen of the City, and the diagonal Clybourn Avenue is named after him.[3] When the town of Chicago was incorporated to become a city in 1837, provisions were made to elect an officer called the High Constable. He in turn would appoint a Common Constable from each of the six city wards. In 1855, the newly elected city council passed ordinances to formally establish the Chicago Police Department. Chicago was divided into three police precincts, each served by a station house. Station No. 1 was located in a building on State Street between Lake and Randolph streets. Station No. 2 was on West Randolph Street near Des Plaines Street. Station No. 3 was on Michigan Avenue near Clark Street. In 1860, the detective forces were established to investigate and solve crimes. In 1861, the Illinois General Assembly passed a law creating a police board to become an executive department of Chicago autonomous of the mayor. The mayor was effectively stripped of his power to control the Chicago Police Department. Authority was given to three police commissioners. The commissioners created the office of superintendent to be the chief of police. The title is again in use today. In 1875, the Illinois General Assembly found that the police commissioners were unable to control rampant corruption within the Chicago Police Department. The legislature passed a new law returning power over the police to the mayor. The mayor was allowed to appoint a single police commissioner with the advice and consent of the city council. Despite centralized policies and practices, the captains who ran the precincts or districts were relatively independent of headquarters, owing their jobs to neighborhood politicians. Decentralization meant that police could respond to local concerns, but graft often determined which concerns got most attention. Political connections were important to joining the force; formal requirements were few until 1895. After 1856, the department hired many foreign-born recruits, especially unskilled but English-speaking Irish immigrants. The first African American officer was appointed in 1872, but black police were assigned to duty in plain clothes only, mainly in largely black neighborhoods. Women entered the force in 1885 as matrons, caring for female prisoners. “Policewomen” were formally appointed beginning in 1913, to work with women and children. In 1895, Chicago adopted civil service procedures, and written tests became the basis for hiring and promotion. Standards for recruits rose, though policing remained political. [4] [edit] Controversies and brutality Over the years, the Chicago police department has been the subject of a number of scandals and other controversies: [edit] Summerdale scandalsThe Chicago Police Department did not face large-scale reorganization efforts until 1960 under Mayor Richard J. Daley. That year, Chicago was hounded by the Summerdale scandals. Eight officers from the Summerdale police district on Chicago's Northwest Side were accused of operating a large-scale burglary ring. News of the scandal was splashed across the city's newspapers and was the biggest police-related scandal the city had ever seen at the time. Mayor Daley appointed a committee to make recommendations for improvements to the police system. The action resulted in the creation of a five-member police board charged with nominating a superintendent to be the chief authority over police officers, drafting and adopting rules and regulations governing the police system, submitting budget requests to the city council, and hearing and deciding disciplinary cases involving police officers.[5] Criminologist O.W. Wilson was brought on as Superintendent of Police, and served until 1967 when he retired.[6] [edit] 1968 Democratic National ConventionMain articles: 1968 Democratic National Convention and 1968 Democratic National Convention protest activity The Chicago Police Department faced a great deal of criticism for its actions during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, which was held in Chicago from August 26 to August 29, 1968. The convention was site of a series of protests, mainly over the war in Vietnam. Despite the poor behavior of some protesters, there was widespread criticism that the Chicago Police and National Guard used excessive force. Time published an article stating that "...With billy clubs, tear gas and Mace, the blue-shirted, blue-helmeted cops violated the civil rights of countless innocent citizens and contravened every accepted code of professional police discipline ... No one could accuse the Chicago cops of discrimination. They savagely attacked hippies, yippies, New Leftists, revolutionaries, dissident Democrats, newsmen, photographers, passers-by, clergymen and at least one handicapped. Winston Churchill's journalist grandson got roughed up. Even Dan Rather (the future CBS news anchor) who was on the floor doing a report during the convention got roughed up by the Chicago Police Department. Playboy's Hugh Hefner took a whack on the backside. The police even victimized a member of the British Parliament, Mrs. Anne Kerr, a vacationing Laborite who was Maced outside the Conrad Hilton and hustled off to the lockup.[7] Subsequently, the Walker Report to the U.S. National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence called the police response a "police riot," assigning blame for the mayhem in the streets to the Chicago Police. [edit] The Black Panther RaidSee also: Fred Hampton On December 4, 1969, Black Panther Party leaders Fred Hampton and Mark Clark were shot and killed by officers working for the Cook County state's attorney. Though the police claimed they had been attacked by heavily armed Panthers, subsequent investigation showed that most bullets fired came from police weapons. Relatives of the two dead men eventually won a multimillion-dollar judgment against the city. For many African Americans, the incident symbolized prejudice and lack of restraint among the largely white police. The incident led to growing black voter disaffection with the Democratic machine. [8] [edit] Ryan Harris murderOn July 28, 1998, 11-year-old Ryan Harris was found raped and murdered in a vacant lot in the city's Englewood neighborhood. The homicide caught the nation's attention when, 12 days after Ryan's body was found, authorities, with the blessing of police command, charged a 7-year-old boy and 8-year-old boy with the murder, making them the youngest murder suspects in the nation at the time. [9] Semen found at the scene and subsequent DNA tests cleared the boys of the crime and pointed to convicted sex offender Floyd Durr. The boys each filed lawsuits against the city, which were eventually settled for millions of dollars and Durr pleaded guilty to the rape of Harris but never admitted to the girl's murder. [10] [edit] Russ/Haggerty shootingsTensions between black residents and police simmered in the summer of 1999 after the fatal shootings of two unarmed black motorists, Robert Russ and LaTanya Haggerty. In one incident, Russ, a football player for Northwestern University, was shot inside of his car after a high-speed chase followed by a struggle with a police officer. In the second, Haggarty, a computer analyst, was shot by a female officer. Charges of racism against the CPD persisted, despite the fact that officers in both incidences were also black. Both shootings resulted in lawsuits and Haggerty's family reached an $18 million settlement. [11] [edit] Burge abuse allegationsMain article: Jon Burge Perhaps no other incident exemplifies abuse concerns by Chicago Police officers more than the allegations against former Cmdr. Jon Burge. Burge, a life-long South Side resident, has been accused of abusing more than 200 mostly African American men from 1972 to 1991 in order to coerce confessions to crimes. [12] Alleged victims claimed Burge and his crew of detectives working the midnight shift had them beaten, suffocated with a plastic bag, burned (by cigarette and radiator) and treated with electric shock. In 1993, Burge was fired from the department, and is currently collecting his police pension. In summer 2006, special prosecutors assigned to probe the allegations determined that they had enough evidence to prove crimes against Burge and others, but "regrettably" could not bring charges because the statute of limitations had passed.[13] In January 2008, the City Council approved a $19.8 million settlement with four men who claimed abuse against Burge and his men. [14] [edit] Bar attack In 2007, video of an intoxicated off-duty police officer kicking and beating a female bartender surfaced. Officer Anthony Abbate was shown on the footage beating and kicking Karolina Obrycka at Jesse's Shortstop Inn on February 19, 2007 after Obrycka refused to serve him any more alcohol. Abbate was later arrested and charged with felony battery and stripped of his police powers after the television station WFLD showed the footage. The Chicago Police have since moved to terminate Abbate from the force, but questions remain over the city's handling of the case.[15] Further controversy arose when Abbate was allowed to enter the courtroom for a hearing through a side door in order to shield himself from the media. This was apparently with the assistance of the Grand Central District officers who were on duty at the time, and acting on the orders of a CPD Captain. Allegations also surfaced that the police ticketed the vehicles of news organizations and threatened reporters with arrest. In the wake of this, Superintendent Cline announced that he would demote the Captain who gave the orders, and would launch investigations into the actions of the other officers involved.[16] On April 27, 2007 14 additional charges against Abbate were announced. These included official misconduct, conspiracy, intimidation, and speaking with a witness.[17] Abbate pleaded not guilty to all 15 charges during a brief hearing on May 16, 2007.[18] Referring to Anthony Abbate, Superintendent Phil Cline has stated, "He's tarnished our image worse than anybody else in the history of the department."[19] The video of the attack has been viewed worldwide on 24-hour news channels and has garnered more than 100,000 views on YouTube. In the wake of this scandal and another similar scandal involving another videotaped beating at a bar, Cline announced his retirement on April 2, 2007. While both men have denied it, some believe that Cline retired under pressure from Mayor Richard M. Daley.[20] Mayor Daley has since announced a plan to create an independent police review board to replace the current Office of Professional Standards, which is under the jurisdiction of the police department.[21] On April 30, 2007 a lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against the City of Chicago and Abbate and several other individuals by attorneys representing Obrycka.[22] Abbate was convicted of charges of aggravated battery on June 2, 2009. Cook County Circuit Judge John J. Fleming rejected Abbate's claims that he had acted in self defense. However since Obrycka had testified that Abbate had not identified himself as an officer during the attack Abbate was acquitted of official misconduct charges. Abbate faced up to five years in prison for the attack. On June 23, 2009 Abbate received 2 years probation including a curfew between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., mandatory attendance at anger management classes, and 130 hours of community service. [23] [edit] Jerome FinniganJerome Finnigan, Keith Herrera, Carl Suchocki, and Thomas Sherry were indicted in September 2007 for robbery, kidnapping, home invasion, and other charges. They were alleged to have robbed drug dealers and ordinary citizens of money, drugs, and guns. The officers were all part of Special Operations Sections (SOS). The officers had allegedly victimized citizens for years, however it was not until 2004 that allegations of misconduct were investigated. According to the State's Attorney, the tip off was that the officers repeatedly missed court dates and allowed alleged drug dealers to go free. Several lawsuits alleging misconduct on behalf of Finnigan and his team have been filed in federal court. Since the original indictments, Jerome Finnigan has also been charged with attempting to have several fellow officers killed. Since the scandal involving Finnigan, SOS has since been disbanded. On February 11, 2009, charges against Chicago Police Department officers Tom Sherry and Carl Suchocki were dropped. A Cook County judge dismissed all criminal charges accusing them of robbery and home invasion after evidence was proven to be false.[1][2][24] [edit] EquipmentAll Chicago Police officers must buy their own duty gear (sidearm, uniform, handcuffs, flashlight, baton, etc.) using their annual uniform allowance ($1,800). The sidearm must either be a Beretta, Glock, Ruger, Sig Sauer, Smith & Wesson, or Springfield Armory, with a Double Action Only trigger, chambered in 9mm, .40 S&W, .45 ACP, or .357 Magnum. The may also carry a few other manufacturers, such as Kahr, for back up or off duty carry in the previously stated calibers or .38 Special, .380 ACP, and so on. Upon entering the training academy, candidates must purchase a Glock 17 or 19, which they may keep or switch after their probationary period. [edit] Appearances in popular culture
[edit] Notable former officers
[edit] Miscellaneous
[edit] See also[edit] Bibliography
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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