Cops Out In Force This Holiday Weekend
(CBS) -- New Year's Eve crowds will be dealing with not only severe cold but also heightened security at Chicago's Navy Pier this weekend.
2 Investigator Dave Savini reports on how Chicago police are getting ready for the celebration.
Massive concrete barricades are just some of the measures police are taking to stop vehicular attacks where crowds might gather, along with patrolling pedestrian-filled sidewalks on the Magnificent Mile.
The effort to step up security started this fall after deadly scenes like the rented truck attack on a lower Manhattan bike path, the 2016 attacks in France, killing 84, and another at the Berlin Christmas market that killed 12.
Friday, police and security were all over Chicago's Union Station, and CPD units were up and down Michigan avenue, even parked in the middle of the street.
That gave the Yi family form Chicago a sense of security as they took their 6-month-old baby, Thomas, out shopping with them.
There are also police barricades ready to go all along Illinois Street east to Navy Pier in preparation for the New Year's Eve celebration.
Metal fencing surrounds the pier, and every corner has a stack of barricades on it. Three thousand people are expected.
Yolanda Martin says she hopes extra patrols will also crack down on all the theft that occurs on New Year's Eve.
"I think people should be able to enjoy the holiday without getting robbed," Martin says.
Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult at all times during the New Year's Eve festivities at Navy Pier.
