Let's go Brandon!

He also ordered other department heads to identify personnel cuts and to submit their proposals by Friday. The goal is to find $75 million more in savings in 2025. The budget shortfall is mainly due to funding used for illegal aliens.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mayor axes 2 police academy classes, faces legal fight over ShotSpotter contract: reports
October 9, 2024 - CWBChicago Citywide

CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson is trying to fill part of the city’s gaping budget by canceling two police academy classes set to begin this fall, the Sun-Times reported Tuesday. In another development, Johnson has opted not to veto a recently passed ordinance that would give Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling the power to enter into a new contract with ShotSpotter, a gunfire detection system. An alderman is promising a legal fight to enforce the ordinance.

Regarding the police academy decision, the Sun-Times said Johnson pulled the plug on training classes scheduled to start this month and in November. He made that decision despite recently promising that the city’s police and fire departments would not be affected by a hiring freeze enacted to trim expenses. The city is coming up about $223 million short this year and is staring at a $982 million shortfall next year.

The city was already failing to keep up with attrition at CPD, where the number of cops has declined by 120 officers this year despite the constant training of new recruits. The department had 11,660 officers in September. That’s 1,521 fewer cops than in September 2019.

Johnson’s decision to axe new hires at CPD is not winning any friends in the city council.

Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) told the paper Johnson was making “a big mistake” because the city is having enough trouble finding new cops without reneging on commitments to train recruits who’ve been accepted.

“Telling people they’re not gonna be trained after they’ve been hired is counterproductive. It’s a waste of money spent in recruiting,” Hopkins told the Sun-Times.

In another move, Johnson has decided not to follow through on his promise to veto the recent City Council order giving the police superintendent the option to renew the city’s ShotSpotter contract.

Insiders believe he decided not to veto the measure, which fell one vote short of a veto-proof majority, because it would go back to the City Council, where at least one alderman who did not vote on the order last month has said they would vote to pass the legislation if it came back before the body.

~~~~~ more at ~~~~~

https://cwbchicago.com/2024/10/mayor-axes-2-police-academy-classes-faces-legal-fight-over-shotspotter-contract.html