Emanuel Moving 200 Cops: Mayor Says He'll Shift CPD Officers At Desk Jobs To Street Patrol Work

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Updated story

Roughly 200 Chicago cops will soon be trading paper work for patrols.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Thursday he would shift a portion of Chicago Police Department officers from desk jobs to street patrols, reports the Sun-Times.

The first group of officers will be reassigned this weekend, the Sun-Times reports.

The move comes just a week after city Inspector General Joseph Ferguson suggested the move as a cost-savings measure. Emanuel said Jan. 23 he would give Fergusons findings serious consideration.

The Tribune reports Ferguson indicated the city could save millions by turning over certain police jobs to "specially trained civilians." According to NBC Chicago, Ferguson's report determined of 370 positions his office reviewed, 292 could be filled by civilian workers. Among the purely administrative tasks: travel arrangements, data entry, graphic design, timekeeping, grant writing and nursing.

Emanuel's announcement comes in the wake of the city's most violent January in more than a decade and is coupled with the high-profile Tuesday slaying of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton who was killed while waiting out a rainstorm in the park with friends.

In a news conference Wednesday, (embedded) Emanuel called Pendelton's killer a "punk," while reminding Chicagoans if they help police find the perp, "You're not a snitch, you're a civillian."

Pendleton's death sent ripples through the national gun control debate, drawing responses from the White House and acknowledgement from Sen. Dick Durbin at a Senate hearing on gun control.

Meanwhile, gun violence in the city continues, with the Tribune reporting six injured around the city in overnight shootings Wednesday.