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About the
Chicago Police Department
On January 31, 1835,
the State of Illinois authorized the Town of Chicago to establish its own police force. On
August 15, Orsemus Morrison is elected Chicago's first constable, assisted by Constables Luther Nichols and John Shrigley.
The three-man police force serves and protects a population of about 3,200. The Police Department pre-dates Chicago as a city.
Today, the Chicago Police
Department is the second largest in the United States, serving approximately 2.9 million residents within the 228 square miles
that constitutes the City of Chicago. The Chicago Police Department had, at the
end of 2005, 13,323 sworn police officers and over 2,000 civilian personnel.
The Chicago Police Department
is divided into 25 police districts. Each district has between 9 and 15 police
beats, with a total 281 beats throughout the city of Chicago. Each of the 25 police districts is led by a district commander
who, in addition to uniformed police officers, has teams of undercover tactical and gang police officers at his or her disposal. The Chicago Police Department Districts are organized into five larger organization
entities called Areas. These area commanders report to the Bureau of Patrol.
In addition to the Bureau
of Patrol, the Chicago Police Department has four other bureaus: Bureau of Investigative Services; Bureau of Strategic Deployment;
Bureau of Crime Strategy and Accountability; and, the Bureau of Administrative services.
Instead of a Chief of Police, the Chicago Police Department has a Superintendent of Police; and, the Bureau commanders
hold the rank of Deputy Superintendent.
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In 2005, Mark Davis, of the Chicago Police Department published “Race
Traitors.” According to Dennis Banahan, a retired Chicago Police Department detective, and the author of Threshold of Pain, in his review of Davis’ book remarked,
“In the 1970's, Don Cornelius, the host of a very popular dance show called Soul Train, and a former policeman himself,
ended every episode of the program with the optimistic words, "Peace, Love and Soul". On the streets of Southside Chicago,
however, there was anything but peace and love. The Black Stone Rangers street gang, still in its infancy, had a stranglehold
on the black community. Extortion, drugs and shootings permeated the fabric of everyday life in the black community. The leading
cause of death for black males between the ages of 18-25 was murder. And there were more murders in any given year than had
occurred during the entire Al Capone era. Mark Davis does an outstanding job
reconsturcting the era and giving us some insight as to what it was like for a working black policeman. Not the Hollywood,
rebellious, anti-establishment black policeman stereotype, just a hard working stiff trying his best to do the right thing
for the right reasons. A guy who has to endure the dichotomy of sometimes being called an "Uncle Tom" by the community he
loves while still not being fully accepted by his white brothers in blue. Mark Davis walked that walk, talked that talk, and
now, wrote that book. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of "Race Traitors". Peace, Love and Soul.”
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