NORWOOD PARK — Residents of the Far Northwest Side — home to many police officers, firefighters and city workers — led the way in applying to the Chicago Police Department, city officials said Tuesday.
Three Far Northwest Side neighborhoods are among the top 20 area for applications to be Chicago Police officers, city officials said while touting an increase in the number of minority applicants.
Norwood Park residents applied for the department in greater numbers than residents of any other neighborhood than West Lawn and Chicago Lawn, city officials said.
Portage Park came in seventh among the 14,200 applicants, just behind Belmont Cragin and Hermosa, city officials said.
Jefferson Park rounded out the top 20, along with Albany Park, officials said.
Seventy-one percent of the applicants to police department are minorities — up 13 percent as compared with the last time the police department solicited new recruits in 2013, officials said.
Approximately 29 percent of the applicants are African-American, 39 percent are Hispanic and 3 percent are Asian, officials said. In addition, approximately 30 percent of applicants identified themselves as women.
Police department officials said in a statement they made a concerted effort to reach out to minorities in an effort ensure that the police department is representative of the communities it serves.
White-hot criticism engulfed the Police Department in the wake of the release of a dashcam video showing a police officer fatally shoot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times, and has prompted Mayor Rahm Emanuel to propose a series of reforms including a push to hire more minority officers.
"To continue restoring trust between the police and communities across Chicago, we must build a police force that represents the diversity of the entire city," Emanuel said in a statement.
The next phase of the application centers on a written test that will be administered April 16 at McCormick Place. Applicants must score at least 80 percent to be considered for the five-month police academy.
The city will provide applicants with a guide to help them prepare for the test with sample questions, and test preparation classes will take place at Workforce Partnership centers around the Chicagoland area.
For more information, applicants can email CPDtest@cityofchicago.org.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
