EDGEWATER — The police presence in the district that includes Edgewater is the third smallest in the city, data from a recent report shows.
As of Feb. 21 there were a total of 12,051 sworn officers in the Chicago Police Department, according to new data in a report released by Chicago's Inspector General. Of that number, 60 percent were assigned to districts and 40 percent were assigned to specialized units such as narcotics, forensics and troubled buildings.
Each of the city's 22 police districts had an average of 330 officers.
The Lincoln (20th) Police District — which covers Edgewater, Lincoln Square, Uptown, Andersonville, Bowmanville and Budlong Woods — has 247 officers, fewer than nearly every other district in the city, the inspector's report found.
Only the Albany Park (17th) Police District, with 246 officers, and the Shakespeare (14th) Police District, with 243, had fewer assigned officers.
However, the low officer distribution also appears to jibe with the area's relatively low volume of reported crimes — though Chicago Police data doesn't include the full gamut of crimes, such as thefts under $500.
Between Feb. 21, 2016 and Feb. 21, 2017, a total of 4,421 crimes were reported in the Lincoln District, by far the lowest in Chicago.
The next lowest districts were Rogers Park (24th), with 7,400 total crimes reported, and Albany Park, with 7,720.
On average, 0.05 crimes were committed per resident living in the Lincoln District, leading to an average case load of 18 crimes per officer.
The most recent annual report issued by the Chicago Police Department, in 2010, placed the population of the Lincoln District at 91,000 people, which translates to a concentration of 56.6 officers per square mile.
Comparatively, the Albany Park District, which has one fewer officer but a significantly larger population of 144,000, has 25.6 officers per square mile.
