
A coalition of alderpersons and community leaders are demanding that the Chicago Police Department create a new Southwest Side police district to speed response times in a Chicago Lawn District that serves the second-largest geographic area with the fewest number of officers per capita.
Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel balanced his first budget in part by eliminating more than 1,400 police vacancies and closing three district police stations: Wood, Belmont and Prairie. That reduced the number of district stations from 25 to 22.