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Coming off the city's most violent year in over a decade, embattled Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis will finally get his wish when the CPD begins receiving the first of its 2,000 new Chevy Tahoes by early spring. In November, Weis inked the deal with Advantage Chevrolet to provide the CPD with up to 2,000 new SUVs over the next three years at a total cost of around $59 million.
So...$59 million in new cars over what this city really needs: new officers. Makes perfect sense to us. Each Tahoe will cost the city at least $24,977, and that's before you add in all the extra equipment like spotlights and radios. According to the CPD's recruitment website: "Starting Salary of $43,104, increased to $55,723 after one year and an additional increase to $58,896 after 18 months." We suck at math but even we can use our calculator to figure out that $59 million for 2,000 SUVS works out to $29,500 per car. We can also figure out that for the cost of two SUVs, the CPD can hire one-and-a-half new officers: $59 mil would pay for the first year salary for 1,360 new cops. And even at the 18-month pay grade, that's still 1,000 new officers. That sound you just heard was the popping of a blood vessel in my head.
We're constantly being told by The Mayor that there's no money to hire more cops and that we'll just have to make due with what we've got. Really? And yet you found a way to shit out an extra $59 million for new SUVs? Okay, fine, we get the argument that police should have top-notch vehicles and equipment. They are, after all, putting their lives on the line every day to protect us. But why tricked-out SUVs? Why not newer models of the same Crown Vics that are already in use? Or, hell, even repairing the old ones that are still in okay shape? Morale is low enough as it is (read Second City Cop) and it gets lower with every fuck-up that happens. Should the be police be held accountable for stuff like Vincent Richardson and Anthony Abbate? Absolutely. But what the Department also needs is a Mayor and a Superintendent who don't both have their heads up their asses and realize that trimming the bad apples, replacing them with a wave of new officers, and better training will go much further in making this city safer than shiny new cars ever will.
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Jeebus, chill, dude! We may not need a bunch of SUVs, but I can't see why we need more cops. Every day we hear new reports of cops torturing people, shooting people, assaulting people, and otherwise abusing their authority. More cops do not make the city safer. *Better* cops? *Smarter* cops? Cops with respect for the law and the Constitution? Yeah, that would be nice.
Well, for starters, many beats are understaffed, at least according to cops. Even in my hood I have noticed a reduced police presence. If you have too few works, you often get more overtime, which can get expensive, though I am not sure this the exact case.
Smarter cops? yes. Better cops? Yes. More cops? That, too.
And yes, boots on the ground do make a difference in nearly all security situations, despite your theory to the contrary. Police presence by itself often can deter crime.
I may be over-reacting a little, but after hearing all of last fall how little money we have and seeing the job that Weis has done, how can one not have a conniption at this? $59 million is a lot of money when we're in a $400+ billion budget hole. We're told there's not enough money for more officers but there's an extra $60 mil for SUVs? Sure, there are a few bad apples, but there are even more good, hard-working cops who are discouraged by the lack of support from City Hall and from a Superintendent who has no idea what he's doing. More cops also increases the chance of better cops and with more on the force, maybe there's more leeway to rid the force of the bad apples.
I tend to agree that the new police cars, sorry police trucks, are a big slap in the face to the cops who are working understaffed in insecure station houses with out a contract. And moral seems at an all time low. But I did read this article this morning about the some new tactics that seem to be working on the south and west sides. I does seem to be a smarter, faster, cheaper approach to policing, lets just hope it doesn't evolve into another SOS debacle.
We can't complaint about the purchases anymore, this was in the works many months ago. It's an indirect way to buy overstock from the General.
However, the city could install snow shovels in those SUVs just like the city does with the garbage trucks. If it's snowing too much, they can do their round as well as shovel the snow. The snow truck has it's work cut out for them.
Making almost $60,000 a year after a year and a half at work, they ought to multitask.
The sad thing is that the S&S lazy asses who don't fight crime or get shot at make about the same amount of money.
Are they going to come with a grill guard so that when they hit children the bodies will be tossed to the side instead of going under the SUV?
It will be interesting to see how the soccer moms react to this. They had the whole Child-Creaming-SUV-Driving_Thing market to themselves... Now the CPD will give them a run for their money!
I saw this a few years ago. It really points out how the idea of the SUV doesn't stack up against the facts or the pesky laws of physics. On the plus side we get to watch the alderman debate repealing the laws of physics when one of these rolls over.
What I'd like to know is, who is in bed with Advantage Chevrolet?
I know nothing about how city governments buy their vehicles, but wouldn't it seem to most of us that they go directly to an auto manufacturer for something like this?
Relax, everybody...there will be new police officers to drive these SUVs.
These new police officers will all be women over 30, with their haircuts fashioned into a 'sensible bob'. Their on-duty diet will consist of Starbucks coffee and Panera bread. They'll speak at great length about junior karate tournaments. They'll be well-versed on Grey's Anatomy and any book by Deepak Chopra. They'll all be named Megan or Rachel.
I did a little looking into police cars. According to the Michigan State Police who test police cars every year and release the results (pdf) there are 4 cars that are intended to be police cars: The Ford Crown Vic, Chevy Impala, Dodge Charger, and Chevy Tahoe. Performance wise the Charger V8 is hands down the fastest and the Tahoe does as good as the Crown Vic. As for visibility and ergonomics the Tahoe is the winner. Here is a final interseting fact: all of the cars except the Tahoe are made in Ontario, Canada. The Tahoe is made in Wisconsin and Texas. Reading through the MSP document I would choose the Tahoe as the best vehicle to buy for my police department. The Tahoe is the right choice for Chicago. And looking at the condition of some of the current Chicago police cars replacement is long overdue.