Chicago Police Prepare For Holiday After More Than 50 Weekend Shootings
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Violent crime might be down in the city compared to this time last year, but a bloody weekend that saw more than 50 shot has some concerned heading into the holiday weekend.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Police Department Supt. Eddie Johnson met Monday afternoon for their weekly meeting to discuss the violent weekend that was and plans for the holiday weekend ahead. They are both encouraged with the downward trend in crime numbers but admit more needs to be done.
As Chicago begins to swell with people, Lightfoot says the city is ready for the Fourth of July.
"We recognize that there are going to be substantial crowds that are going to be coming downtown and along the lakefront in particular," she said. "And making sure that we have resources in those areas but not neglecting some of the areas that we anticipate are going to be hot spots."
Over the weekend 56 people were shot. Four of those were shot fatally. It was the second time this year 50 were shot over a weekend.
In 2017 the city saw more than 100 people shot over the Fourth of July weekend.
"We had a lot of shootings over the course of this weekend," Lightfoot said. "Year-to-date, month-to-date, year over year we are heading in the right direction, but it's still to many."
While shootings and violent crime are down year-to-year both Lightfoot and Johnson say this weekend there will be a focus on young people coming downtown with the intention of committing crimes and causing chaos.
"Social media is not our friend when it comes to this type of thing," Johnson said. "You can start off with a group of five people, and in a half hour have 200. We always have a high police presence down there by Chicago and State because we know a majority of young folks come off the Red Line right there."
"Just because we are on a positive trajectory doesn't mean that we can be satisfied," said Lightfoot. "We can't be."
The city would not go into detail about its safety plan for the weekend but made it very clear that there will be additional officers and resources in well visited tourist areas and known hot spots through the city.
