An Op-Ed in the Chicago Tribune by ACLU clients Ron and Serethea Reid focused on the disparities in police deployment between North Side neighborhoods and Central Austin, where they head the Central Austin Neighborhood Association (CANA). In CANA v. the City of Chicago, the ACLU argues that the city has failed to deploy police resources equitably across the City’s many diverse neighborhoods, resulting in disproportionate number of delayed police responses to emergency calls in those neighborhoods with higher minority populations. The Reids write:
Data reported by the media in recent years demonstrate that in South and West Side neighborhoods, there are not sufficient numbers of police officers to respond to 911 calls, while those calls are answered in a more timely fashion in North Side neighborhoods. Political clout, it turns out, is more important in fighting crime in Chicago than the interests of residents and taxpayers on the South and West sides.
Studies going back two decades have found that the deployment of Chicago police officers does not reflect the realities of higher crime rates and 911 calls in certain districts. Based on workloads, North Side police are underutilized, but the aldermen in these wards unjustifiably hold on to these officers. Various police superintendents have recommended and proposed redeployment plans for the police force, but all failed at the altar of political clout.
