The Brief
- The Chicago Police Department should hire more officers and civilians to ease staffing pressures, according to a new study.
- The researchers suggested civilians could do more work that sworn officers currently perform.
- That would free up officers for other duties like patrolling and investigations.
CHICAGO – The Chicago Police Department should hire hundreds more civilians to take over some duties of sworn officers and ease staffing pressures, according to a summary of a long-awaited report.
For years, the department has faced staffing shortages, which have led to officers working long hours, having their planned time off canceled, and more spending on overtime for the city that is facing perpetual budget challenges.
‘Civilianization’ of CPD work
What we know:
The “Workforce Allocation Study,” conducted by the Matrix Consulting Group, found that there were “substantial opportunities” to shift about 600 positions from being filled by officers to civilian staffers.…