Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has announced the redeployment of 150 more police officers to beat patrol positions as part of his campaign pledge to add more cops to the streets, the Chicago Tribune reports. “These officers are going to be the backbone of our police department, working on the beat,” Emanuel said. “Now remember, we have to have a comprehensive strategy: More police on the street and getting kids, guns and drugs off our street.”
Emanuel said the announcement of the additional officers — from administrative and clerical capacities — comes less than a month after he said 400 officers would be redeployed to beat cop duties while another 100 work in various parts of the city to respond to flare-ups in crime. Those 500 officers were redeployed primarily from two specialized units: the Mobile Strike Force and Targeted Response Unit.