Chicago Police Dept.: Deadly January prompts 911 dispatch changes

CHICAGO (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) – In the wake of the city's most deadly January since 2002, the Chicago Police Department will no longer dispatch officers to scenes where the offender is no longer present and no one is in immediate danger.

With the 911 dispatch change, which went into effect on Sunday, authorities hope to free up the equivalent of 44 officers a day to respond to more serious crimes and to work at crime prevention, reports the Chicago Tribune.

Crimes that will no longer result in the dispatch of an officer to the crime scene include vehicle theft, theft, garage burglaries, criminal damage to property, the passing of bad checks, lewd or obscene phone calls, threatening phone calls that don't pose an immediate danger and animal bites, reports the newspaper.

Having more officers on visible patrol will far outweigh any negative drawbacks and will ultimately serve as a possible deterrent to crime, police said.

Police hope that change will mean quicker response times to serious crimes and an increase in manpower which will allow police to be more proactive instead of bouncing from call-to-call.

For more information: The Chicago Tribune

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