Chicago Spent More Than 1 Million Overtime Hours on ‘Scarecrow’ Police Shifts Since 2022 Before Abandoning the Approach – WTTW (Chicago)

The strategic deployment initiative, or SDI, was introduced as part of an overall plan to fight crime across the city. Sometimes called “scarecrowing” by officers and critics in reference to the way it stationed officers in easy-to-see spots to deter trouble, the recently terminated initiative was often defended by former boss David Brown but criticized by current Supt. Larry Snelling.