By Annie Sweeney and Fran Spielman
The Chicago Sun-Times
CHICAGO — When the latest class of Chicago Police recruits showed up to fill out the final paperwork before their training was to start last month, they got some surprising news.
They could go home, they were told. Class was canceled until further notice.
“Why are we going this far and suddenly they say, ‘We can’t give you a reason. We will call you. We’re sorry this happened’?’' complained one recruit, who asked that his name not be printed.
On Wednesday, city officials confirmed the training class for some 50 recruits was postponed from Feb. 19 to May 19.
But the recruit said he had not been notified about the May start date. He, like others, had quit a job to become a police officer and was hoping he still had a spot. The class also includes someone from out of state who moved here to take a job.
“Everybody’s worried,” the recruit said, adding that he is out of work for now.
Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President Mark Donahue said he has never heard of a class being held up before.
The reason for the delay, city officials said, was to get more “seasoned’’ cops on the street.
Over the next three months while the recruit class holds, the city will move officers working desk jobs back onto the street, said Wendy Abrams, spokeswoman for the city’s office of budget and management. Money will be spent to fill those “administrative” positions until the recruits start in May.
The delay in training new officers — even temporary — is a concern, Donahue said, because officers today are under a lot of pressure.
“What’s being asked of them is more than before,’' he said.
Copyright 2008 Chicago Sun-Times