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  "path": "/police-reform/2026/02/12/chicago-police-staffing-hiring-superintendent-larry-snelling-study-matrix-consulting",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-12T21:43:45.927Z",
  "site": "https://chicago.suntimes.com",
  "textContent": "<p>A much-anticipated study on Chicago police staffing urges more hiring to better respond to community needs and offers a new model for how to best deploy officers with the resources available. </p><p>The study, conducted by Matrix Consulting Group, was <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/2024/2/5/24062649/how-best-deploy-chicago-police-officers-city-council-committee-vote\" target=\"_blank\" >commissioned by the City Council</a> in February 2024 to find ways to close gaps between police response times in different neighborhoods. </p><p>The group quickly determined the police department had “real and uneven staffing pressures,” with workloads varying significantly depending on district and unit, according to <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.chicagopolice.org/wp-content/uploads/WFA-ES.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" >an executive summary</a> released this week. </p><p>That resulted in inconsistent service and limited supervisory oversight in “high-demand areas,” the firm found. “This study examined every bureau, every unit and every function, down to the individual,” Allyson Clark Henson, the police department's executive director of constitutional policing and reform, told the Sun-Times.</p><p>“They provided us a foundational analytical framework that then allows us to guide a phased implementation, prioritizing what we think is most important to happen first.”</p><p>The study recommends shifting 600 cops out of jobs that could be done by people without police powers, then filling many of those positions with civilians. It also calls for hiring an additional 270 patrol officers and 90 patrol sergeants. </p><p>Instead of keeping a fixed number of officers in each district, the study argues that staffing should be adjusted regularly based on workloads. The department would also tackle challenges with oversight, with the study finding that “meaningful supervision becomes difficult” when sergeants are responsible for too many officers.</p><p>Robert Boik, senior vice president of public safety at the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, one of the study’s sponsors, said a supervisor at a police district could be overseeing close to 20 officers at any given time. </p><p>“We've invested a lot in accountability structures, but the most important layer of accountability is that relationship between the supervisor and the employee,” Boik said in an interview. “You could be the best manager in the world, but 20 is too much.”</p><p>Clark Henson and Boik said the key takeaway of the study is the long-term analytical model it provides for determining staffing. </p><p>“For years, CPD has deployed based on a set of internal metrics, and the study really provides a replicable, mathematically-based model that can serve as the basis for staffing for the first time ever and for years to come,” said Boik, Clark Henson’s predecessor. </p><p>The staffing analysis was required under <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/2018/9/6/18327050/what-is-a-consent-decree\" target=\"_blank\" >a federal consent decree</a> mandating sweeping reforms in the wake of the police killing of Laquan McDonald. Similar studies were commissioned in 2016 and 2019, but were never completed, and preliminary results weren’t made public.</p><p>Six funders, including the Civic Committee, stepped up to fund the study, which ended up costing $780,000, according to Boik. A final report is expected to be released to the public in the coming weeks. </p><p>Police officials now have to weigh the recommendations while considering budget constraints and collective bargaining agreements. </p><p>“I'm looking forward to the final product,” said police Supt. Larry Snelling. “I don't expect it to be 100% perfect. I do expect that there may be some things that we need to look at and talk about, which is why we have this draft right now.”</p><p><i>Read the executive summary:</i></p><div class=\"Enhancement\" data-align-center><div class=\"Enhancement-item\"> <div class=\"ExternalContent-wrapper\" data-embed> <iframe src=\"https://docs.google.com/viewer?embedded=true&url=https://www.chicagopolice.org/wp-content/uploads/WFA-ES.pdf\"></iframe> </div> </div></div><div class=\"RelatedList Enhancement\" data-module data-align-center> <div class=\"RelatedList-title\">Related</div> <ul class=\"RelatedList-items\"> <li class=\"RelatedList-items-item\"> <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/2024/2/5/24062649/how-best-deploy-chicago-police-officers-city-council-committee-vote\" target=\"_blank\" >City Council committee OKs study on how best to deploy Chicago police as resources shrink, some crimes spike</a> </li> <li class=\"RelatedList-items-item\"> <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2024/10/25/chicago-police-department-exodus-suburbs-recruiting\" target=\"_blank\" >Chicago Police Department exodus: New cops are leaving in droves, Sun-Times investigation finds</a> </li> <li class=\"RelatedList-items-item\"> <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2025/11/05/chicago-police-hiring-slowdown-larry-snelling-brandon-johnson-budget\" target=\"_blank\" >CPD to slow hiring, pause academy training next summer to cut costs, superintendent says</a> </li> </ul> </div> <p></p>",
  "title": "Long-sought Chicago police staffing study recommends adding more cops, hiring civilians",
  "updatedAt": "2026-02-12T22:40:03.258Z"
}