(The Center Square) – Amid reports of violent crimes being at a six-year high and overall crime up by 40%, Chicago Ald. Chris Taliaferro says Mayor Brandon Johnson made the only decision he could make in deciding not to include police officers as part of the city’s new hiring freeze. “I just believe that including the police department and the fire department could be detrimental,” Taliaferro told The Center Square. “We are already scaled back from our 13,500 police officers that are part of our operational numbers. It would make patrolling our districts in an adequate manner much more difficu…