Welcome to the Reader's morning briefing for Monday, February 6, 2017.

• The Chicago Police Department received its most diverse applicant pool ever

More than 16,500 people have applied to become a Chicago police officer, according to city officials. And more than 73 percent of the applicants are nonwhite—33 percent are Hispanic, 35 percent are African-American, and 2.4 percent are Asian—and almost 32 percent of the applicant pool is female. "The response to our call for applicants is proof positive that as a city we are committed to making our police department bigger, more diverse and more reflective of all our strengths," Mayor Rahm Emanuel told reporters. [DNAinfo Chicago]

• Rauner hires ex-comptroller Leslie Munger as a deputy governor

Governor Bruce Rauner has appointed former Illinois comptroller Leslie Munger as a deputy governor. The Republican and former Helene Curtis executive lost a heated race for comptroller to former city clerk Susana Mendoza in November 2016. She will "add her voice to the state's budget discussions," according to the governor. Rauner appointed Munger to the comptroller position in 2015 after the death of Judy Baar Topinka. [Tribune]

• A 29-year-old political novice from Skokie is running for governor

Alex Paterakis may not be a familiar name in Illinois politics, but that hasn't stopped him from entering the 2018 gubernatorial race as a Democrat. The 29-year-old from Skokie believes that the Democrats have "lost the middle class to Donald Trump." He decided to run his progressive campaign to try to change the increasingly polarized system from within. "I was getting sick of how politics were being done, how things were being run, partisan politics being everyone against everyone else with no one actually listening to other people's opinions," Paterakis told NBC Chicago. [NBC Chicago]

• Synagogue in the Loop vandalized with swastikas

A vandal smashed the front window of the Chicago Loop Synagogue over the weekend and posted swastika stickers on its main entrance. Surveillance video shows a suspect with a dark SUV placing the stickers on the front entrance, then smashing a window. The Anti-Defamation League is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the suspect's arrest and conviction. [Sun-Times]

• Why are TV writers so intrigued by Chicago?

Chicago has become a very popular city on network television. The Wall Street Journal explores why Chicago is resonating in Hollywood, and why viewers around the country are tuning in. From Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. to the Fox series A.P.B., premiering tonight, television writers seem increasingly drawn to dramatizing and analyzing the city's issues. Another new show, The Chi, which will focus on life on the south side, is in the works at Showtime. [Wall Street Journal]