Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Police Department (CPD) Superintendent Eddie Johnson announced that the city has successfully added more than 1,000 new officers to the department since the start of the hiring plan in 2017 at a recruit welcome ceremony at the Police Academy. These new officers have helped contribute to the ongoing decline in violent crime over the last two years. In September 2016, Mayor Emanuel first announced plans to deploy 970 more police officers to safeguard neighborhoods in two years, while also filling vacancies left from retirements and promotions. During the ceremony, 67 new recruits were welcomed to the Academy as the second-to-last class of the year. In addition to putting more officers on the street, CPD’s recruiting efforts have also been focused on improving diversity within the department to ensure that it better represents the culturally diverse neighborhoods of Chicago.  Currently, more than half (51.7 percent) of CPD’s sworn officers self-identify as a minority.  Since the start of the hiring plan in 2017, CPD has hired 2,285 new officers to join the Department and promoted 96 Lieutenants, 364 Sergeants, and 503 Detectives.