111 CPD recruits welcomed to training academy

CHICAGO (WLS) -- City officials welcomed 111 new police recruits Tuesday as they start the Chicago Police Department's training academy.

The recruits bring CPD closer to its goal of adding 1,000 officers.

CPD Superintendent Eddie Johnson and Mayor Rahm Emmanuel spoke to the recruits about helping to solve the city's violence.

"We're not expecting you to solve all of it on your own," Johnson said. "We're expecting you to be part of the solution. Being part of the solution means helping us hold violent offenders and building trust in the communities you'll serve. Because when we do that as an agency, when we have the communities work with us, we'll make our streets even safer."

This is the eighth class of police recruits to enter the academy this year and will have new training opportunities that were introduced this year, including new use of force policies and cultural awareness training at DuSable Museum of African American History.

Recruits will also spend their six-month academy stint learning laws and protocols, receiving physical training, and becoming familiar with procedural justice, crisis intervention and de-escalation, community building, and critical thinking.

Twenty percent of the entering class are women, 60 percent are minorities, and eight are military veterans.

Starting Tuesday, applications for the next police entry exam were being accepted. Applicants must be at least 20 years old. At the time of hire, recruits must reside in Chicago, have a valid state of Illinois driver's license, have 60 semester hours of college credit or 36 months of continuous active duty service; or one year continuous active service with 30 semester hours college credit. The exam will be administered the weekend of Dec. 16.