CHICAGO, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Chicago mayoral hopeful Rahm Emanuel says he will put 1,000 more police officers on Chicago's streets by using cadets to hold down desk jobs.
Emanuel, formerly President Obama's White House chief of staff, said he would also renegotiate a police contract that lets officers take 365 sick days every two years, The Chicago Sun-Times reported.
"I want to think of solutions that (do) not pit the North Side of the city against the South Side, the West Side against the central part of the city," Emanuel told the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board Friday.
Emanuel also said he would dump Police Supt. Jody Weis to improve morale. Weis, a fomer FBI agent, wouldn't respond directly to Emanuel's comments, but said "nothing speaks to morale like results."
He said there have been nearly two years of month-to-month crime reductions and the 2010 homicide total was the lowest in 45 years.
The Fraternal Order of Police, the police union, reacted coolly to the idea of ending a policy that lets officers take 365 sick days every two years.
"A lot of our guys get hurt doing their jobs -- even more so lately," said FOP President Mark Donahue.
Donahue said the police department already has a medical integrity unit to "weed out medical abusers."
