Chicago Park District Police Department

The (since demolished) Chicago Park District Administration Building, which housed the central headquarters of the department

The Chicago Park District Police Department was a law enforcement that was operated by the Chicago Park District. The department was established on May 1, 1934, and operated until being disbanded and absorbed by the Chicago Police Department on December 31, 1958.[1] The territorial limits of the agency were the municipal boundaries of Chicago. The department was given jurisdiction over 135 parks, including facilities housed within the parks (such as swimming beaches, outdoor swimming pools, field houses, recreation centers, the Lincoln Park Zoo, the Garfield Park Conservatory, and the Lincoln Park Conservatory. The department also had jurisdiction over the 205 miles (330 km) of boulevards that are part of the Chicago park and boulevard system, as well as 28 miles (45 km) of Lake Michigan shoreline.[1]

Similar to other Park District employees, members of the force of 639 officers were recruited by the Chicago Park District Civil Service Board and were directly employed by the Park District. Since the Park District had its own independent jurisdiction separate from the city government, the department was functionally unattached to the Chicago Police Department, despite close cooperation between the two departments.[1]

The department was responsible for the enforcement of park ordinances, state laws, and the preservation of peace and good order. Its Division of Police operated a fleet of approximately 100 two-man squad cars, each with two-way radios. Its central headquarters were housed in the Chicago Park District Administration Building in Burnham Park (which was located behind southmost end of Soldier Field).[1] The department had stations located in several parks, including its North Police Station in the Lincoln Park Administration Building (today the location of the Lincoln Park Cultural Center).[2]

The disbandment of the department came with a Second Consolidation Act for the city's parks, which saw management of the city's boulevards transferred away from the Parks District, ownership of more than 250 parks owned by the city transferred to the parks district, and the parks district police force merged into the Chicago Police Department.[3] In Illinois, park district police departments have become a rarity. As of 2017, only 19 of 339 municipal park districts in the state had their own police departments.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "History – Chicago Police Department". Chicago police.org. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
  2. ↑ "Lincoln Park - Cultural Center". Chicago Park District. August 8, 2026. Retrieved August 20, 2026.
  3. ↑ "About the Chicago Park District". Chicago Park District. Retrieved August 20, 2026.
  4. ↑ Toner, Casey (April 7, 2017). "Park District Police: Costly And Questionably Redundant". Illinois Answers Project. Retrieved August 20, 2026.
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