Police May be Privatized by a Foreign Company in Chicago
March 24, 2009
They’re private security guards, already on patrol, but they may soon have the powers of Chicago Police officers.
[efoods]As CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports, the private security officers now on patrol on the city’s Far South Side are expected to have their powers expanded as part of a citywide ordinance now being prepared.
But officials are questioning whether this means public safety is being outsourced.
Mayor Richard M. Daley has already privatized many city functions. The Chicago Skyway has been leased to a Spanish conglomerate. Midway Airport is run by a Canadian company. The parking meters were sold to a firm run by Morgan Stanley, and as a result, the cost of parking in the city has skyrocketed.
But the question is whether another foreign firm providing cops on patrol may be privatization gone too far.
A single squad car, marked "special patrol," cruises up and down a small commercial strip on far south Michigan Avenue tonight. Its patrol area is between 100th and 116th streets, and area merchants have their doubts.
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