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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 the late 1990s, a trio of Chicago Police Department police officers, Eric
Davis, Randy Martin and Randy Holcomb created a positive message through music and ultimately writing. According to Amazon.com, “the Slick Boys were three undercover Chicago cops who moonlight as rappers
with an upbeat message. "We tour elementary schools and junior and senior high
schools," writes Eric Davis. Their agenda envisions the police officer's job as social work rather than gunplay, values education
and respect, and urges kids to ditch stereotypes and "dream extra large." In
addition to the musical presentation the police officers authored the book “The Slick Boys: A Ten Point Plan to Rescue
your Community by Three Chicago Cops who are Making it Happen.”
Publisher’s Weekly said of The
Slick Boys, “In 1990, Davis, Martin and Holcomb, plainclothes cops in Chicago's crime-ridden housing
projects, formed a rap music group, the Slick Boys (slang for "undercover cops"). Rapping and telling their personal
stories of survival; all three grew up black and poor in the projects; the trio have spread their anti-gang, anti-drug message
in performances at schools, prisons, drug rehabilitation clinics and juvenile detention centers across the country. Written
with People journalist Fisher, this report interweaves the Slick Boys' scorching autobiographical narratives; Davis is
a former gang member; Martin's mother held up banks and served time; Holcomb was arrested by brutal racist cops who falsely
accused him of armed robbery. It features a 10-point program for working with gang members and other troubled youth, organized
around such precepts as "Have big expectations," "Speak the language," "Don't play to the stereotypes."
In an epilogue that recounts their continuing attempts to keep a peace, however fragile, among the gangs at Cabrini-Green,
the Slick Boys make clear the need for continued community effort; throughout, they profile community action and youth services
programs while a 63-page appendix lists many such organizations. Their grassroots insights into violence, abuse, delinquency
and addiction and their straight-shooting writing style effectively target this handbook to its intended audience.”
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