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Mayor Emanuel Lays Out Plan To Add More Chicago Cops, Detectives

(CBS) --It's a speech the mayor has been pointing to for weeks: his comprehensive blueprint to reduce soaring street violence in Chicago.

It's Rahm Emanuel's attempt to reassure a restless city that he has a plan, and to help rebuild his image, especially among African-American voters.

CBS 2 Political Reporter Derrick Blakley reports.

Emanuel was near tears Thursday, as he recounted the tragic murder of mother Nykea Aldridge, who was caught in the crossfire this summer as she pushed a baby carriage.

The mayor called for action on multiple fronts, including hiring of almost 1,000 new cops over two years. He also called for the hiring of 200 more detectives.

"We need more police officers on the streets of our neighborhoods," Emanuel told a crowd gathered at Malcolm X College.

But even the police admit "we can't arrest our way out of this situation," Supt. Eddie Johnson said.

"More police officers on the street is a small piece in this issue. Our communities are suffering from social ills," he said.

The mayor emphasized expanding mentoring programs to 7,200 inner-city boys in the most violent neighborhoods – consistently, over several years.

Programs like "Becoming A Man," or BAM, that Dakota Harris says kept him from dropping out.

Others say the mayor didn't talk enough about increasing jobs in impoverished neighborhoods.

"We spend 40 percent of our budget on policing and public safety. We spend nowhere near that on investment in neighborhoods and on economic development," City Treasurer Kurt Summers said.

Mayor Emanuel Address
Mayor Emanuel talks to a crowd at Malcolm X College Thursday evening to outline an anti-crime plan. (CBS/Scott Placko)

 

Emanuel did not specifically say in his address how the various initiatives, including the police hires, will be financed.

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