Emanuel: Three Police Stations To Close; Police, Fire Headquarters To Merge

via Fran Spielman, Chicago Sun-Times

The Chicago Police Department will close three district police stations in 2012 — Wood, Belmont and Prairie — consolidate police and detective areas from five to three and merge Police and Fire Department headquarters and specialized units, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Tuesday.

Instead of having “overlapping functions” in the Police and Fire Departments overseeing anti-terrorism, marine activities, helicopter and bomb and arson, those units will join forces under “single leadership” for “better coordination at key moments,” the mayor said.

The merger of special units and the combined Police and Fire headquarters at 35th and Michigan will create a “more agile bureaucratic structure” that Emanuel called unprecedented.

Emanuel will unveil his 2012 city budget at a special City Council meeting on Wednesday, using a mix of budget cuts and targeted tax and fee increases to erase a $635.7 million shortfall.

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