Describing the Chicago Police Department as “beleaguered” would be an understatement.  The suppression of dashcam video of the shooting of an unarmed suspect may have gotten Rahm Emanuel re-elected, but it aggravated already high tensions between the CPD and the many in the black and Hispanic communities.  The ongoing murder epidemic in those communities, largely the result of the drug trade, doesn’t help matters, either.

The predictable result: recruitment, especially of minorities, has become a problem.  Dorothy Tucker reports for CBS:

The deadline to apply for the Chicago Police Department is right around the corner, yet the very people the police are trying to attract are not exactly lining up for the jobs.

The push for new recruits, especially black and Hispanic, comes on the heels of controversial police shootings, the department’s promise to increase diversity and a need to replace retiring officers. Yet many of the nearly hundred chairs were empty.

When asked why some of the seats aren’t filled, Officer Denise Gathings said, “Some are afraid, others are angry.”

Urban League CEO Shari Runner says some are distrustful.

“There’s a reputation I think that the police department has a little bit about not hiring people who apply so we need to make sure that we follow through this time,” Runner said.

The deadline for applying for the CPD has already been extended.  Twice.

So we have a major city, where murder already is out of control, finding difficulty maintaining the ranks of its police force, which can only make the crime problem worse.  Can you say “death spiral”?

The ongoing anti-police crusade contains the seeds of anarchy.  It will not be pleasant, and it will affect most the communities supposedly most afflicted by the police.

Meanwhile, civilians, quite justifiably, continue to arms themselves.

Hat tips: Second City Cop and Peter von Buol