New Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy tells the Chicago Tribune he wants to do nothing less than “change the way we do police work in this country.” He believes “we can reduce crime and do it in partnership with the community on a level that’s never been done before, and I think it’s really going to tip the scales as to how we perform our duties in this country. He acknowledged that the police department has been hit by tough economic times — as evidenced by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s decision to shift 500 officers, most from two specialized units, to beat patrols and other assignments instead of spending money on new hires.
McCarthy, the former police chief in Newark whose appointment to the superintendent’s post by Emanuel still must be approved by the City Council, said he won’t use a tight budget as an excuse. “My thought process is real simple: I have to do what we can do with what we have. So I’m not going to say we’re down a couple hundred cops. I’m not going to say we need this and that. What is the right number of cops? Who knows? We always want more. But [ ] using them efficiently is where we’ve got to start, and then we can make a determination as to whether or not we have enough.”