CHICAGO—More and more young Chicago police officers are taking leave of absence to seek or work outside jobs, and most did not return when their leave ended, according to records obtained by The Epoch Times through a Freedom of Information Act request. In 2019, 23 officers took leave of absence for outside employment. In 2020, the number doubled to 49. In January 2021 alone, six officers took leave of absence for outside employment, triple the number for the same periods in both 2019 and 2020. The records obtained show data from January 2019 up until January 2021. During that period, about 70 percent of officers on leave for outside employment either quit or retired a year after their initial leave took effect, after which they could no longer extend the leave. Three out of five officers on leave for outside employment are in their 20s and 30s. In a previous …