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Serving the Loop and Near North neighborhoods of downtown Chicago
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(Above) Graduates of Chicago Police Academy are sworn in on January 30. Photo obtained from Chicago Mayor’s Office.

16-Mar-18 – Fifty probationary police officers who graduated from the Chicago Police Academy last December have now been assigned to downtown police districts.

The 1st District, serving the Loop, is getting 20 officers and the 18th District, north of the Loop, is getting another 20.

Both districts have lost more officers since Rahm Emanuel was first elected mayor than they are now gaining. The 1st district has lost 26 officers in the past seven years and the 18th district has lost 45, according to research by CWB Chicago.

The crime web site has also found that robberies are up 50 percent in the Near North neighborhoods, compared to last year, and up 106 percent in the Loop.

Ten officers were added to the Near West district.

In total, 86 officers have completed field training and are being sent to their first details in six police districts.

Police academy graduates have also been assigned to the Town Hall district that serves the Lake View neighborhood and parts of Lincoln Park, Lincoln Square, North Center, and Uptown. That district has lost 108 police officers since Emanuel took office.

Police training now includes a new cultural awareness course taught at DuSable Museum of African American History, and courses in de-escalation, crisis intervention, and procedural justice.

On March 16, the mayor’s office announced 102 new police recruits had started six months of training at Chicago Police Department’s Training Academy. 63 percent of the recruits identified themselves as a minority, according to the mayor’s office. The class includes approximately 21 women, 42 graduates of Chicago Public Schools, and ten military veterans.