Chicago Police Routinely Face Attacks

July 20, 2016 - 12:31pm



There were more than 13,000 assaults and batteries against Chicago police from 2007 through late last year,
city data show. Ten officers were killed in that time.

The recent deadly shootings of police officers in Dallas and in Baton Rouge illustrate the extreme dangers of being a cop in America.

But how often are police officers attacked? And how many attacks do Chicago police face?

Chicago police were the victims of assaults or batteries 13,039 times between January 2007 and the end of November 2015, according to city data provided by the Fraternal Order of Police union. That is an average of about four assaults or batteries on a Chicago police officer every day since 2007. Nine officers were killed by gunfire and one was killed in pursuit of a suspect during that period, according to a national website dedicated to officer deaths.

The police union’s assault figures are based on the city’s online reservoir of raw data maintained by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration since 2011. Before that, the city published an annual report for the Chicago Police Department, which provided detailed statistical data and analysis.

So to get a better sense of attacks on officers, including violent incidents, we examined Chicago police annual reports from 2000 to 2010, the last year they were published.

The most serious events: 580 officers suffered what the department called “major injuries,” and 14 police officers were killed, the annual reports show.
Between 2000 and 2010, there were 27,542 attacks on Chicago police officers from January 2000 to December 2010.

Attacks on Chicago Police: 2000-2010
Information from Chicago Police Annual Reports Jared Rutecki | Better Government Association

In the annual reports, the Chicago Police Department’s definition of “attack” was broad — it even included verbal threats, which accounted for about 10 percent of the total.

During the decade, the number of reported attacks increased. In 2000, there were 1,332 attacks on police officers. By the end of 2010, the number more than doubled to 3,135. Over the same period, Chicago was losing population, and 911 calls to police fell 15 percent.

In the Dallas and Baton Rouge attacks, the assailants used firearms to kill eight police officers and wound 10 others. Attackers in Chicago used firearms against police officers 1,623 times from 2000 to 2010.



Law enforcement personnel investigate a mass shooting scene on July 8, 2016 after an attack that killed and wounded Dallas
police officers. (Photo by Voice of America)

Chicago police were attacked 6,199 times while arresting a suspect between 2000 and 2010, but three-quarters of the attacks took place while officers were performing other, routine duties.

The number of attacks on Chicago police varied widely between police districts. From 2000 to 2010, the 11th police district on the West Side reported 2,682 attacks while the 20th district on the far North Side reported 498 attacks for the same period. But the annual reports show police were attacked while working in any police district.

Since the shootings in Dallas, the Chicago Police Department ordered officers to work in pairs.

“This type of attack on officers merely because they are in uniform is a new risk, and so we want to give them some reassurance,” Assistant Chicago Police Superintendent John Escalante told ABC7, referring to the Dallas and Baton Rouge incidents. “Everybody has someone out there with them.”


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