Chicago Police Department Graduates 89 Police Recruits

The Chicago Police Department graduated 89 police recruits in a ceremony Monday at Navy Pier commemorated by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy.

The latest crop of graduates includes nine new officers who are currently active in the military, as well as 21 others who are military veterans.

The police department also promoted 31 sergeants and 24 lieutenants. The newly promoted sergeants are the first to be promoted from the sergeant’s exam administered in 2014.

According to a police news release, more than 1,300 new police officers have joined the department with over 200 additional recruits currently being trained in the police academy in the past three years.

The department has also made promotions at every rank, promoting 334 sergeants and 97 lieutenants since 2011.

Emanuel touted that under his administration, the police department has significantly increased the pace of hiring and promotions at all levels of the department, including the hiring of 1,550 officers. The city has also put hundreds of additional officers in high crime areas through Operation Impact and Summer Surge.

Both police strategies are the result of the disbanding of citywide task forces so that officers could work in tighter geographic areas and get to know the communities and residents they serve.

“As we continue to work together to ensure the safety of our city, these brave men and women are serving a critical role in protecting our neighborhoods as partners with residents and community leaders,” Emanuel said in a written statement. “They are the backbone of our community policing philosophy.”

Police recruits spend five months at the Police Academy and receive approximately 1,000 hours of instruction and training before beginning a field training program as a probationary police officer. Upon acceptable completion of the field training program and 13 months of field experience, the probationary officers become full-fledged police officers.