The day after a group of more than 300 officers picketed the Chicago Police Department headquarters, 3510 S. Michigan Ave., complaining of manpower shortages, the city announced it will cut several positions in its Chicago Alternative Police Strategy program to free up more police for street patrol. CAPS Director Ronald Holt said the exact number of reassigned officers is not yet clear, but Mayor Richard M. Daley announced the change would put more than 200 officers back on the street.

Critics are concerned the cuts are a step toward eliminating the program, following other CAPS budget cuts and overtime pay restrictions. But Holt said the 17-year- old program—designed to connect officers with their communities through monthly meetings—is in no danger of disappearing. Administrative responsibilities of CAPS officers need to be shifted back to the community, as the structure of the program originally intended, he said.

Although 200 more officers sounds like a significant increase, the impact seems weaker when considering those officers are spread out among Chicago’s 25 community areas.

The city certainly needs more officers on the streets—as the police force is currently short 2,300 officers a day—but some areas could benefit from increased patrol more than others, and distributing all officers back to their respective beats could

be inefficient.

However, the cops being reassigned from CAPS already know their communities well. They have met with members for years; they know the problems, the spots to watch, the residents and the business owners. It would be beneficial for every community to have a few familiar faces on patrol.

But why are the officers who attend monthly meetings with community members the only officers expected to know the ins and outs of certain neighborhoods?

In order for the reassignment strategy to be successful, the principles of the CAPS program need to be continued by former CAPS officers as well as practiced by police who don’t yet know the faces of their communities. Police unfamiliar with their neighborhoods could park their patrol car and walk around the block to meet business owners and residents, spend time in the park, or talk with parents as they pick up kids from a neighborhood school.

If police do more to interact with communities on a daily basis, losing a few officers at monthly CAPS meetings wouldn’t seem detrimental to the program.