BRIDGEPORT — It’s been years since the Chicago Police Department closed the old Deering District’s headquarters at 35th and Lowe.
Since police moved to a new 44,000-square-foot building at 3120 S. Halsted St. in December 2008, the building has remained dormant, and neighborhood folks are wondering:
What will become of the vacant 78-year-old building?
At a community meeting Tuesday night, Ald. Patrick D. Thompson (11th) revealed some of the backstory.
“We were working with the facilities folks trying to get the polygraph unit from the Police Department into the 9th District,” Thompson said. “We were working with the previous superintendent (Garry McCarthy)."
But after four years as Chicago’s top cop, McCarthy was asked to resign in December by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who said McCarthy had become a distraction amid the fervor over the police slaying of Laquan McDonald.
That’s when talks to make something of the old Deering District headquarters stalled.
“Everything was put on hold,” Thompson said.
The polygraph unit is now used to test police recruits, Thompson said.
In 2013, the unit was moved from the forensic services division to human resources, according to the Tribune.
The second-year alderman is still hopeful the unit will move to 35th and Lowe, bringing 15-20 officers to the neighborhood.
“We’re still working on that,” Thompson said, “although with the change in superintendents that got delayed a little bit.”
In March 2013, a Tribune investigation found that Chicago Police had ignored voluntary standards while conducting polygraph examinations.
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