As Chicago’s mayoral race intensifies, several candidates have renewed calls to hire 1,000 additional police officers, citing public safety concerns. However, a recent workforce study of the Chicago Police Department (CPD) suggests this approach may neither be feasible nor necessary.

Chicago Police District Council members Jenny Schaffer, Sam Schoenburg, and Maurilio Garcia, who represent the 19th Police District, emphasize that persistent recruitment challenges have left CPD with hundreds of unfilled vacancies over the past five years. They caution against lowering hiring standards simply to meet numerical targets. Instead, they argue the department should focus on optimizing the deployment of its existing officers.

Currently, CPD employs more than 11,500 sworn officers, but fewer than 35%—approximately 3,950—are assigned to regular patrol duties. Community members have repeatedly expressed a desire for increased officer visibility and responsiveness in their neighborhoods. The council members argue that these expectations can be met without significantly increasing the force size by reallocating personnel internally.

A comprehensive, data-driven workforce allocation analysis conducted by Matrix Consulting Group underscores this potential. The study highlights that Chicago is an outlier among major U.S. cities with respect to civilian staffing levels in its police department. Civilians constitute only 8% of CPD’s workforce, compared to around 24% in Los Angeles and more than 31% in New York City.

Matrix’s findings recommend transferring over 600 sworn officers currently assigned to more than 170 non-essential law enforcement roles to civilian positions. These roles include clerical functions such as timekeeping—currently handled by about 40 officers—and various administrative and technical assignments better suited to civilian staff. Civilianizing these roles would enable sworn officers to focus on core policing tasks, including patrolling and direct community engagement.

Although the study suggests some additional officer hires may be needed even after civilianization efforts, the recommended number is approximately 53—far fewer than the 1,000 new officers proposed by several mayoral contenders.

Implementing this shift would require creating new civilian job classifications, negotiating union agreements, and investing in hiring and training civilian personnel. While these efforts involve upfront costs and logistical challenges, the council members argue they will ultimately enhance department efficiency and responsiveness at a lower expense than a large-scale recruitment drive.

Another strategy to maximize patrol resources involves reducing the dispatch of officers to calls that do not necessitate armed law enforcement. Chicago has begun expanding programs like the Crisis Assistance Response & Engagement (CARE), which deploys mental health professionals and specialized responders to address appropriate calls, thereby reserving police officers for core public safety functions.

Rather than promising to hire 1,000 new officers, the district councilors urge mayoral candidates to commit to enacting the workforce recommendations and investing in alternative response models. They contend that this approach offers a more sustainable and effective pathway to increasing neighborhood patrol presence and improving public safety across the city.