Chicago Police having trouble hiring more officers

AP:

With more violent crimes being committed in Chicago, the police department can't get approval from City Hall to hire enough officers to keep up with the number of officers who are leaving.

Like other city agencies and departments, the police department is caught up in budget problems facing the city. Mayor Richard Daley has said the city must cut personnel costs but hasn't said where those cuts can be made.

Futhermore this AP report says that the Fraternal Order of Police could be down by 400 officers, it is already down by 250 thanks to firings and retirements.

Here's more from the Tribune:

Police Supt. Jody Weis, facing criticism over rising homicide rates, promised aldermen to expand the department by 75 officers as part of an effort to put more officers on the street. But City Hall has not approved department requests to hire enough officers to keep up with retirements and other attrition.

Mayor Richard Daley has said the city must reduce personnel costs in the face of a dismal economy and a gaping budget hole but has not specified where the cuts could be made at this point.

Monique Bond, spokeswoman for the Police Department, said Weis is still committed to hiring as many officers as he can but said the department is not the only agency in the city facing budget challenges.

"The top priority of the Chicago Police Department is to put more officers on the street," Bond said. "But we can look across city departments and see the impact of the economy on all of them. Yes, public-safety agencies are critical components in any city government, but we do have some constraints we have to deal with."

With retirements, firings and resignations, the department is down 250 officers and could be down more than 400 officers by the end of the year, said Mark Donahue, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, the union representing patrol officers. The department has lost about 375 officers and hired only 125 since the beginning of the year, Donahue said.