This ARTICLE On Chicago Police Still Providing Former Mayors Security Detail Was PUBLISHED On November 9th, 2019

The city of Chicago is in a financial mess.

• Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and city council members do not seem to have any solutions to fix the city’s mounting budget deficit
• The only solution they can come up with is raising taxes
• Not just raising taxes, but city politicians are creating new taxes
• The Illinois Governor has the same mentality
• Governor J.B. Pritzker is raising taxes on all existing taxes PLUS he is creating new taxes for Illinoisans
• He has recently doubled the state’s gas tax
• Pritzker is proposing changing the current flat-tax to a progressive income tax system
• Increasing taxes does temporarily increase revenues but politicians need to cut spending
• It is not what you make but what you spend
• City, county, state government needs to be run like a business
• This is not what is happening in Chicago
• A successful Mayor and/or Governor needs to think about cutting spending, privatizing government divisions and departments, merging departments to save money, and luring businesses and individual taxpayers to their city, county, state
• This is not what is happening in Chicago and Illinois
• J.B. Pritzker recently approved wage increases to Illinois lawmakers when the state is in financial chaos
• The plan is backfiring
• More and more businesses and taxpayers are moving out of Chicago and Illinois than ever before
• Chicago Police Still Providing Former Mayors Security Detail is another major added costs that do not help the city in fixing its budget woes
• Lori Lightfoot came to contract settlement with the Chicago Public Teachers union which is going to cost the city $100 million a year
• This is money the city does not have
• Property Tax Hikes in Chicago is in order to pay for the new contract settlement with the CTU

In this article, we will cover and discuss Chicago Police Still Providing Former Mayors Security Detail when the city is on the verge of bankruptcy.

Chicago Police Still Providing Former Mayors Security A Good Idea?

Chicago Police Still Providing Former Mayors Security is drawing a lot of controversy among taxpayers.

• Chicago police officers get paid a lot of money
• Depending on the rank of the officer, a police officer can cost the city $200,000 or more a year
• This includes their salary, benefits, pension, and other costs for the officer to due to his and/or her job
• A police officer with 20 years on the job can retire with 50% of their last pay schedule
• 25 years on the job will merit 75% of their full-time pay
• 30 years on the job can reward the officer with a higher benefit package
• The Chicago police pension debt is out of control
• There is no way the city can go on with the current pension system without pension reform
• You can only cut spending so much with any major police department

However, Chicago Police Still Providing Former Mayors Security Detail may be one of the budgets that may be cut to save the city from going into a deeper financial hole.

How The Current System Works With Chicago Police Versus City Hall

It is normal for mayors of large metropolitan cities to receive police protection.

• However, most large cities do not provide around the clock police protection for former mayors after they have left office
• However, the city of Chicago has the Chicago Police Still Providing Former Mayors Security detail after they have left office
• Former Mayor Richard M. Daley who left office almost a decade ago still gets around the clock police protection by Chicago Police funded by Chicago taxpayers

Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel who left office seven months ago also has a full police protection detail assigned to him and his family.

Chicago Police Still Providing Former Mayors Security And Comparing To Other Comparable Cities

Patronage has been the way of life for many generations in Chicago.

• Residents who have clout often can get city jobs
• You need political clout as a member of the Chicago Police Department to move up the ranks
• It is often not how you score on tests and oral interviews
• It is often who you know
• A recent survey of nine other major U.S. cities revealed mayors have security detailed provided by city taxpayers while they are in public office

After mayors leave office, the mayoral security detail is terminated.

Cities That Provide Mayoral Police Detail

The following cities provide mayoral police protection details only while the mayor is in office and NOT when they are no longer mayor:

• Los Angeles, California
• Houston, Texas
• Phoenix, Arizona
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• San Antonio, Texas
• San Diego, California
• Dallas, Texas
• San Jose, California
• New York City, New York

There are countless other cities that provide a mayoral security detail. However, we have not found any mid-size and/or large police agencies providing security detail after the mayor has left public office.

Costs And Type Of Protection For Former Mayors

Every city has its own policies when it comes to providing police protection to the mayor and other high ranking city officials.

• The Philadelphia police department has a policy that police protection discontinues once the mayor leaves the office
• Philadelphia does allow former mayors to request temporary security as needed through their Dignitary Protection Unit which is a division of the Philadephia police department
• The Deputy Commissioner of Special Operations is the head of the Dignitary Protection Unit
• A request needs to be made by the former mayor and the division commander is the decision-maker
• The costs of security detail are substantial and costly
• Each Chicago police officer would probably cost around $200,000 a year
• We need to multiply by three officers per day since this is around the clock protection

You also need to take into account police vehicles, insurance, benefits, pensions, and other costs related to the function of the security detail. The City of Chicago had a practice of assigning the security detail to former mayors. This practice has been widely criticized for many years but due to the financial crisis Chicago is in, there is more scrutiny than ever by critics and government experts.

The Practice Of Chicago Police Still Providing Former Mayors Security Considered Wasteful

It is fully understandable for Chicago Police to provide security detail to former mayors on a temporary level after leaving public office.

• However, former mayors having security detail for life is considered wasteful of taxpayer dollars
• Why do former mayors need bodyguards?
• Why are they in danger that they need full police protection?
• Chicago Police have a major shortage of police officers

Chicago has the highest crime and murder rates in the country. These officers assigned to former mayors can be out in the streets fighting crime. The City is under major financial crisis and needs to think about cutting unnecessary spending.

Duty Of Mayoral Security Detail

One of the roles of police detail is the officers are assigned as drivers for former mayors.

• If former mayors want their personal drivers, it should be paid by the former mayor and not city taxpayers
• Other duties of mayor police protection duties have not been disclosed by both City Hall and the police department
• Do these officers run errands for the mayor?
• Do they do maintenance at former mayor’s homes?
• Do they babysit their children? Do they go shopping for them?

These are legitimate questions taxpayers need to know.

Other City Wasteful Resources Paid By Chicago Taxpayers

Chicago Police Still Providing Former Mayors Security detail is coming under fire now more than ever. This is due to consistent property tax hikes and other tax increases throughout the city. Chicago Police had a history of providing security detail for the city clerk and city treasurer just until this summer. This practice was terminated this year. The security details provided by the Chicago Police Department for City Clerk Anna Valencia and Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin were stopped. This was because the Police Department higher-ups decided these public officials were not in any danger of needing police protection.

Alderman Edward Burke And Cost Of His Police Protection

Recently indicted corrupt Chicago Alderman Edward Burke, the Finance Committee Chairman, had a team of Chicago police officers assigned to his security detail for many decades until recently. The detail consisted of four full time sworn police officers assigned to him and his family. This was fully funded by city taxpayers. Alderman Edward Burke got his security detail revokes back in 2018 after he was forced to resign as the chairman of the city’s finance committee following a raid by federal law enforcement agents in his offices at City Hall. Former Mayor Richard Daley used his security detail as drivers, not just for himself, but for his late wife Maggie. Police officers drove Maggie Daley to and from doctors’ offices when she was undergoing treatment for cancer.

Mentality Of City Politicians On Wasteful Spending

Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel who justified the extra manpower to former Mayor Daley’s detail said the following when asked about wasteful spending with taxpayer dollars;

Chicago Police Spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said that Chicago Police Still Providing Former Mayors Security will continue. However, the department will see if they can cut expenses by reducing manpower. For example, instead of four officers assigned, reducing it to two officers. Many Chicagoans are furious at property tax hikes and the city on the verge of bankruptcy. Chicago is the highest taxed city in the nation. There are more taxpayers leaving Chicago than any other U.S. city. Mayor Lori Lightfoot agreed with the Chicago Teachers Union which will cost the city $100 million dollars per year. What this means is property tax increases for Chicago property owners. This is a breaking story on Gustan Cho Associates Mortgage News. Stay Tuned for updated on this story in the coming days and weeks.