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Lakeview Gets More Police Officers, But Not As Many As Promised

By  Josh McGhee and Ariel Cheung | March 30, 2016 6:22pm 

 The Town Hall District has grown by 26 officers over the past six months.
The Town Hall District has grown by 26 officers over the past six months.
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LAKEVIEW — While the number of police officers assigned to the Chicago Police Town Hall District didn't grow as quickly as promised, 26 additional officers have joined the force over the past six months, Aldermen James Cappleman and Tom Tunney announced Wednesday.

Since October, 26 officers — including eight sergeants — have joined the district, which covers Lakeview and parts of Uptown. Cappleman (46th) and Tunney (44th) said they secured a promise for more officers in exchange for their votes for a $589 million property tax hike in October.

In addition to eight officers transferred to the district in November, the alderman said Mayor Rahm Emanuel and now-former Supt. Garry McCarthy pledged to add 25 in during the first three months of 2016. That means the district is seven short of the 33 additional officers it was supposed to have by the end of March.

Officials also promised 10 more officers would be hired by the end of 2016 — for a total net increase of 43 officers.

On Wednesday, Tunney conceded that "while significant progress has been made, unfortunately, we do not yet have the full complement of new officers promised last October."

The alderman shared a letter from newly appointed interim Supt. Eddie Johnson, who pledged to "work tirelessly to address those matters which may jeopardize the health and well-being of its residents" and shared the staffing level numbers.

Tunney said he met with Johnson Wednesday.

Johnson "fully understands that the need for more officers in the [Town Hall] District is real" and re-upped on McCarthy's promise with "plans to fulfill the commitment by continuing to send officers our way," Tunney said in his email newsletter.

The promise referred specifically to the number of officers working in the district, excluding those detailed out on special teams or to other districts, Tunney's office later clarified. Officers who are detailed out typically spend the majority of their time outside the district, officials said.

At that point, the district was staffed with 326 officers. While the district grew by 15 officers in the final months of 2015, progress slowed in January due to retirements and transfers, officials said.

By Feb. 28, a total of 17 officers had joined the department since October, putting the force at a total 343 officers. With another nine joining this month, the district has grown to 352 officers — seven short of the target increase.

"Last fall during budget season, [McCarthy] made a commitment to me that he would get more police for the ... District for 2016," Cappleman said in his newsletter. "I will continue to push for more officers, specifically to bring back the foot patrols on Wilson."

The Town Hall District includes Lakeview and parts of Uptown, Lincoln Square, North Center and Lincoln Park. In 2013, the city merged two districts and the combined district's staffing levels began to drop soon after.

Neighbors in Lakeview and Uptown have voiced concern about a perceived increase in violent crime. A surge in burglaries in Lakeview over winter months follows a spread of violent crime on the neighborhood's west side.

As for Uptown, Cappleman credited a task force he created three years ago with a significant drop in crime at Sheridan and Lawrence, an Uptown intersection that has seen a rash of shootings between 2013 and 2016.

"Three years ago, I established a task force of concerned citizens, law enforcement agencies and businesses that focused on the intersection of Sheridan and Lawrence. Within 8 months of the establishment of this group, crime at that intersection dropped 80 percent," Cappleman said.

Earlier this month, a 17-year-old was shot in his leg in the 4600 block of North Magnolia Street. The shooting was the seventh in a two-block radius of that location since 2014, according to statistics gathered by DNAinfo Chicago.

During the time period, local rapper Young Pappy was murdered and nine people were wounded in shootings including a drive-by shooting in June 2013 that wounded six people

Most recently, two people were shot in the 1100 block of West Lawrence Avenue around 2:30 a.m. on Dec. 27. On Dec. 15, a 24-year-old man was shot in his foot in the 4700 block of North Sheridan Road around 11:25 p.m.

On Nov. 1, 2013, a 68-year-old man and 34-year-old woman were shot outside the Aragon Ballroom following a Lil Durk concert in the 4700 block of North Sheridan Road around 11:04 p.m.

Between 2010 and 2012, one person was wounded and another was murdered in the area. On May 12, 2011, a person was wounded in the 1000 block of West Lawrence Avenue. On June 18, 2012, a person was shot in the 900 block West Lawrence Avenue.

Earlier this month, Ald. Harry Osterman announced a he was increasing foot patrols along Argyle Street to increase safety ahead of the debut of the Argyle Streetscape.

RELATED:

Will Lakeview Get As Many Police Officers As Promised? Tunney Won't Say

Lakeview Looks To Cabs For Help as Police Tell How To Get Squads Out Sooner

Woman Attacked On Her Porch in Lakeview Says Police Took Too Long to Arrive

Lakeview Burglaries Spike After Decade-Low Winter in 2015

El Tapatio Hit For 1st Time in 42 Years as Lakeview Crime Moves West

Tunney Votes Yes on Property Tax Bump, Gets 43 More Officers For Lakeview

Plan for More North Side Police Officers Get Shaky Start in Town Hall

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