Area North Detectives Will Be Spending More Time On West Side

By Mae Rice in News on Apr 14, 2016 4:44PM

Violent crime detectives at the Chicago Police Department's Area North facility will start using the West Side police facility as a "satellite office" within the next week, officials announced Thursday.

By opening up the Harrison and Kedzie offices to violent crimes detectives based at the CPD's Belmont and Western facility, police said, they'll make it easier for detectives to work where crime is spiking most. This will ensure quicker response times when crime occurs, and shorter travel times for witnesses, victims, and arrests who need to speak with detectives.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi detailed the changes in a statement to Chicagoist, specifying that staffing levels at the Area North facility won't change, and violent crimes detectives will continue to investigate crimes throughout all seven districts in their current jurisdiction. Property crime and special victims detectives will also not be affected by this shift. The full statement says:

* Within the next week Area North Violent Crime Detectives will begin using the police facility at Harrison and Kedzie as a satellite office.

* Essentially we are putting the violent crime detectives where the violence is occurring.

* The Area is not losing any detectives. The current staffing level of detectives in Area North will not change.

* Violent Crime Detectives will still respond and investigate violent crimes in the other six districts.

* Property Crime Detectives and Special Victims Detectives will not be affected.

* This is an operational and investigative issue meant to ensure a quicker response to violent crimes and shorter travel times for transporting arrestees, victims, and witnesses.

As the Sun-Times reported, murders have spiked especially extremely in West Side neighborhoods Harrison and Austin. Citywide murder figures have also risen to levels comparable to 1999 Chicago.

Details have yet to be released on when, exactly, this change will go into affect, and how many detectives will be affected. We reached out Alderman Tom Tunney (44th), Joe Moreno (1st), Michael Scott Jr. (24th) and Jason C. Ervin (28th) for comment, and will update if they respond. Several outlets reported that violent crime detectives would receive full transfers from Area North to the West Side.