Chicago Police Department Sends 50 Officers To DNC
By aaroncynic in News on Sep 4, 2012 7:40PM
Even though Mayor Emanuel recently announced federal agencies would assist the Chicago Police Department in combating a spike in violent crime in the city, CPD still sent a small contingent of officers to Charlotte, NC for the Democratic National Convention this week. ABC7 reports about 50 off duty officers will assist local, regional and national law enforcement forces at the convention “as a matter of professional reciprocity,” according to Police Department spokesperson Melissa Stratton. Charlotte sent officers to Chicago during the NATO summit in May.
Both community activists in Chicago and police union officials criticized the move. Rev. Ira Acree of the Greater St. John Bible Church told ABC “I would love to know the logic behind that decision to send them there given all that is happening in Chicago.” Pat Camden, a spokesperson for the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police said “We had two homicides and dozens of shootings this weekend, and we're sending officers out of the city?”
Police Supt. Garry McCarthy told NBC the move was necessary, saying CPD would be “roundly criticized in the law enforcement community” if the officers stayed home. He added that performance during the NATO summit protests was a factor and that Chicago Police “set the gold standard of how to police these events.”
Officers were instructed not to discuss their assignment in North Carolina with the media, and city officials said that they would be paid out of the $50 million in federal dollars the city of Charlotte received for security at the convention. The officers are there on their time off, according to Stratton.