Do We Really Need More Cops?

[Andy Thayer]

How All the Major Mayoral Candidates Are Getting it Wrong

For decades every Chicago mayoral election has featured calls more for hiring more cops. Emanuel and Daley of course got in on the act, but the most popular non-Machine contenders are calling for the same thing.

When she was a prospective candidate, Karen Lewis repeated the now-familiar mantra, as did Bob Fioretti, and after vacillating with vague mumbling about "community policing," so now, too, has Jesus "Chuy" Garcia.

But does Chicago have a dearth of cops compared to other cities? And more to the point, would more cops do anything to stem our civilian-on-civilian violence rate, let alone address the anger over police violence expressed in the continuing protests over the killings of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and several local victims?

Read more here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-thayer/do-we-really-need-more-co_1_b_6453652.html