The Chicago mayor’s security detail is a dedicated Chicago Police Department unit, formally designated Unit 544, that protects the sitting mayor, the mayor’s family, City Hall, and the mayor’s residence. Under Mayor Brandon Johnson, the unit has reportedly grown to nearly 100 officers, according to data from the Chicago Office of Inspector General’s staffing dashboard.1Chicago Tribune. Chicago Mayor Cuts Cops, Officers Protect Brandon Johnson That figure, set against a department carrying roughly 1,000 vacancies, is what has turned a routine protective assignment into a political fight.
What Unit 544 Is and How It Grew
Chicago mayors have long traveled with CPD bodyguards, but the current structure is relatively new. During Richard M. Daley’s 22-year tenure, his detail numbered about 24 officers. Rahm Emanuel said in 2011 he intended to keep a smaller detail than Daley’s, though the city declined to release specific numbers, citing security.2NBC Chicago. Bill for Burke, Daley Security
About a year into Lori Lightfoot’s term, in 2020, the CPD created Unit 544, the Government Security Detail, consolidating protection for City Hall, the mayor’s residence, and the mayor’s personal bodyguard command post. As of March 2022, Unit 544 had 65 officers, five sergeants, and one lieutenant.3Chicago Sun-Times. Mayor Lightfoot Security Detail By May 2023, it had grown to 90 sworn officers, in addition to a separate personal bodyguard detail of about 20 officers that Lightfoot kept around her. She also broke with tradition by picking retired U.S. Marshal Jim Smith, rather than a CPD officer, to lead her personal detail.4Fox 32 Chicago. Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Security Detail Dramatically Reduced
Johnson took office in May 2023. The reported headcount of nearly 100 officers comes from the Inspector General’s staffing dashboard.1Chicago Tribune. Chicago Mayor Cuts Cops, Officers Protect Brandon Johnson Gun-rights groups have circulated higher figures, as many as 150 officers at an estimated $30 million a year, but those numbers have not been confirmed by city records or neutral reporting.5NRA-ILA. Anti-Gun Chicago Mayor Spends Astronomical Amounts of Tax Dollars on Armed Security The CPD has consistently refused to provide precise staffing figures for any mayoral security assignment, past or present, arguing that disclosure could invite threats.6Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago Mayor Lightfoot Security Reduced
Why the Size Has Become Controversial
The detail’s growth has collided with cuts elsewhere in the department. Over an 18-month period, the Johnson administration eliminated 456 police department vacancies, 98 sworn and 358 civilian, to save more than $50 million.1Chicago Tribune. Chicago Mayor Cuts Cops, Officers Protect Brandon Johnson Since 2019, the department has 1,600 fewer positions overall, and as of late 2025 the CPD carried roughly 1,000 vacancies.7WTTW News. After City Council Rejects Effort to Crack Down on CPD Overtime, Johnson Imposes New Limits Johnson’s 2025 budget proposal included further cuts to police positions and a nearly 30 percent reduction in staffing for CPD training and mental health divisions.
Critics have drawn a pointed comparison with transit policing. The CTA’s Voluntary Special Employment Program, in which sworn officers work transit shifts on their days off, was averaging 77 officers per day as of early 2026, with plans to grow to 120.8NBC Chicago. CTA, Chicago Police Unveil Security Surge After Feds Threatened Funding Cuts Gun-rights groups have argued that one elected official’s protection rivals the daily police presence across the city’s entire transit system.5NRA-ILA. Anti-Gun Chicago Mayor Spends Astronomical Amounts of Tax Dollars on Armed Security
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 President John Catanzara has been the most visible critic. In a video filmed outside Johnson’s Austin neighborhood home in September 2025, Catanzara pointed to three squad cars stationed at the residence around the clock and called the mayor a “hypocrite” for accepting that protection while publicly describing law enforcement as “a sickness” to be “eradicated.” He was responding to Johnson’s comment at a City Hall press conference on September 16, 2025: “Jails and incarceration and law enforcement is a sickness that has not led to safe communities.”9Audacy WBBM. Police Union President Calls Chicago’s Mayor Hypocrite
The National Shooting Sports Foundation and the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action have framed the detail as a Second Amendment issue, arguing that Johnson maintains extensive armed protection for himself while backing some of Illinois’ most restrictive firearm laws, including the state’s ban on certain semi-automatic weapons and magazine restrictions.10NSSF. Chicago Mayor’s Taxpayer-Funded Security Hypocrisy
The January 2025 Drunk-on-Duty Incident
The detail drew national attention in May 2025, when the Chicago Tribune reported that Officer Josue Najera, a 44-year-old member of Johnson’s security team since August 2023, showed up for his shift intoxicated on January 20, 2025, the night of President Donald Trump’s second inauguration.11Chicago Tribune. Mayor Detail Suspended After Trump Inauguration Celebration
Najera had attended an inauguration viewing at the Trump International Hotel and Tower before his 9 p.m.-to-6 a.m. shift guarding the mayor’s residence on West Superior Street. Around 7 p.m., before his shift began, he allegedly tried to sit in an on-duty officer’s squad car, and after being turned away filed a complaint against that officer.12New York Post. Chicago Mayor’s Cop Security Showed Up for Work Drunk After Partying at Trump Tower When he reported for duty, his sergeant described his behavior as “very uncharacteristic and erratic.” Asked whether he had been drinking, Najera said, “Yes.” A breathalyzer at the 15th District station at 11:46 p.m. registered a blood alcohol content of .134.11Chicago Tribune. Mayor Detail Suspended After Trump Inauguration Celebration
His gun was confiscated and his police powers were stripped on the spot, and he was ordered to surrender his ID, badge, and hat shield. He was issued a 25-day suspension, but as of May 2025 he had not yet served it and had been reassigned to the CPD’s Alternate Response Section. He had no sustained misconduct complaints on his record before the incident, and both the CPD and the mayor’s office declined to comment.11Chicago Tribune. Mayor Detail Suspended After Trump Inauguration Celebration12New York Post. Chicago Mayor’s Cop Security Showed Up for Work Drunk After Partying at Trump Tower
Travel Costs and Transparency
Records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by NBC 5 Investigates offer a rare look at the detail’s travel practices. When Johnson flew to Los Angeles in February 2024 for an African American Mayors Association conference and stayed to attend the Grammy Awards, seven city employees went with him, including four security detail officers. A mayoral spokesman called a four-officer travel contingent “standard.” Documented airfare, lodging, and travel agency fees came to $7,949.96, though the real total is likely higher: the city redacted rental car charges and an entire page of expenses, citing “privacy concerns.” David Greising of the Better Government Association said the redactions fit “a pattern of not being responsive to legitimate public interest.”13NBC Chicago. Newly Obtained Records Shed Light on Cost of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Trip to Los Angeles
What Happens to the Detail After a Mayor Leaves Office
Protection for a former mayor is not automatic. When a new administration takes over, outgoing officials’ security is reassessed through what the CPD calls “security threat assessments,” and the result depends on both the finding and the sitting mayor’s willingness to keep paying.6Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago Mayor Lightfoot Security Reduced
Daley left office with his 24-officer detail. Emanuel cut it to five bodyguards, then later reassigned those five to active duty and left Daley with three officers for “occasional bodyguard services.”2NBC Chicago. Bill for Burke, Daley Security Lightfoot continued a taxpayer-funded detail for Emanuel after a threat assessment but eliminated the detail and vehicle assigned to his wife, Amy.4Fox 32 Chicago. Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Security Detail Dramatically Reduced Shortly after taking office in May 2023, Johnson “dramatically reduced” the detail at Lightfoot’s Logan Square home; neighbors reported the police presence shrank to a single squad car, the smallest in years.6Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago Mayor Lightfoot Security Reduced
The same process has pulled security from other officials. Lightfoot used it to end details for City Clerk Anna Valencia and City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, and Emanuel earlier cut then-Alderman Edward Burke’s detail from four active-duty officers to two retired ones.4Fox 32 Chicago. Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Security Detail Dramatically Reduced The through-line is discretion: the sitting mayor’s office effectively decides how large the protective footprint will be for the city’s current and former leaders, and that discretion is why staffing of Unit 544 keeps resurfacing as a political question rather than a settled operational one.