In a discussion by journalists Dave Glowacz and Ben Joravsky, Dave and Ben probed Dave's ongoing investigation into police workforce allocation.

Chicago police officers on Michigan Ave. Photo by
Marshall Baltazar.

The conversation centered on a project begun by the Chicago Police Department (CPD) to figure out where to put cops when, and how.

Dave and Ben talked about Mayor Brandon Johnson's proposed 2025 budget, and how it cuts—or maybe doesn't cut—police positions tied to major reforms of CPD. Dave identified some little-reported problems around CPD hiring, as revealed by CPD management.

Dave and Ben also talked about bad data: CPD's records can't disclose—on any given day—where cops are, and how many there are, and how long it took them to get there.

Dave also spoke of the clots of clout that might persist in the city of Chicago—which could frustrate any effort to deploy police personnel effectively and equitably. Dave tied the current attempt at police reform to a previous effort, via the Shakman decrees, which revealed corrupt actors that remained throughout city government.

The premium version of the episode contains all of Dave and Ben's conversation, plus audio from some of the sources that Dave cited during the discussion.

Length 47.7 minutes.

Music: "2 Бандера" by TerminatorZ
CC0 1.0 Universal Deed

Standard audio:

Premium audio: