With the Chicago Police Department facing a wave of retirements and struggling to retain and recruit talent, the interim top cop on Friday announced new programs to rehire officers who have left the force and to poach others from outside the city.
During the tenure of former police Supt. David Brown, officers’ days off were canceled to address deep staffing issues and a spike in violent crime. While the controversial policy was rolled back, police staffing has remained at the center of the mayoral race as the department struggles to fill roughly 2,000 vacancies.
