LYING BY OBFUSCATION

Obfuscation is the activity of obscuring people's understanding, and Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis has done exactly that in stories about the police department hiring new recruits.

If you are like me, you were probably thinking that the new hires would doubtless bring the strength of the ranks of CPD up to what it needs to be.

In regard to the policemen shortage, I wrote on July 22nd, “According to a story in the Sun- Times, ‘A shortage of officers is emboldening criminals, said a former high-ranking Chicago Police official who said he's "terrified" for officers because felons no longer fear the police. A two-year police hiring slowdown has left the Police Department understaffed by more than 2,230 officers a day, below the city's budget-authorized 13,200.’

‘The manpower situation in the Chicago Police Department is bad," added Mark Donahue, president of the Fraternal Order of Police. ‘ “

So when reading all the stories about the new police recruit exam, I was getting a feeling of confidence that there would soon be enough officers to serve and protect the City of Chicago. Au contraire!


Because of all the election week frenzy, probably very few people noticed a small story in the Chicago Tribune on Monday that reported, “After touting for weeks the planned hiring of 200 Chicago police officers next year, the Daley administration admitted Monday that the new cops won't even make up for the number of officers who will depart in 2011.”


Gene Munin, the city's budget director, said, “Although the city plans to hire 200 officers next year, it projects that 300 will leave the force.” He later conceded that,” the projection of 300 departures was not in keeping with historical patterns. Typically, about 450 officers retire or leave the force for other reasons each year.”


So we will have FEWER police officers in 2011 than we currently have. That makes no sense! The Mayor’s office is using budget constraints as an excuse for not having sufficient police strength, but if there are less officers projected to be on the payroll 2011 than in 2010, then there is money in the budget to hire even more policemen!


If one just uses small numbers, it is easier to understand. Pretend that 100 officers were on the payroll in 2010. Maybe 10 retire. That leaves 90. Only 5 new recruits are hired. That still leaves money to hire 5 more with no increase of the previous year’s budget!


I can’t be the only person who understands the math on this? This is simple subtraction and addition that any six-year-old could do. No calculator or pencil are needed; one could compute the figures in their head! But maybe the people involved in the budget process attended a Chicago Public School. Then it would make sense!