Mayor Daley on Thursday tightened the bureaucratic belt another notch by ordering a 6 percent cut in non-personnel spending in all city departments except police, fire and emergency services.
But the Chicago Police Department might not escape the budget ax for long. Daley said he has ordered a “comprehensive management review” of the city’s largest department to make certain it’s devoting “every dollar possible” to keeping Chicago neighborhoods safe.
In 1992, Daley hired the consulting firm Booz, Allen & Hamilton to conduct a similar study of the police department, at a cost of nearly $1 million.
Among other things, its report recommended closing seven district stations to free hundreds of officers for the city’s fledgling experiment with community policing.
Daley initially embraced the recommendation but then shelved it after a community backlash.
Today, Daley made clear that station closings would not be on the table in the new study — not after the city has spent tens of millions of dollars in recent years replacing many district stations.
“New police facilities become…community anchors — a big part of the community.,” the mayor said.
“There’s not that wall of separation between the community and the police department, as compared to the old stations ,because the old stations were so small. You’re lucky they had enough washrooms.”
The mayor’s $6.1 billion 2010 budget was balanced by nearly draining the 75-year, $1.15 billion windfall generated by privatizing Chicago parking meters.
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