Navy Pier's New Year's Eve Preparations After Three Stabbings On Fourth Of July
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It's the longest fireworks display in the city of Chicago.
And its expected to draw about 25,000 people to Navy Pier Tuesday night.
But after this summer's Fourth of July celebration ended in a stampede and a stabbing, will visitors be safe?
CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey reports from Navy Pier with an update on the security plan.
Navy Pier said it has not hired a new security firm since the debacle on the Fourth of July, but the facility added additional private security companies to the mix and learned some lessons from this summer.
It was 60 degrees warmer for the last fireworks display at Navy Pier. The Fourth of July was also a lot more crowded. And false call for shots fired by a private security guard and an actual stabbing outside a McDonald's restaurant led to chaos at the Streeterville tourist attraction.
About five months later and Navy Pier seems to finally be ready to answer some questions about what happened.
"Yes, from Fourth of July it was a learning moment. Afterwards we debriefed and made some adjustments based on what we saw for opportunities for improvements and growth," said Paya Patel, spokesperson for Navy Pier.
A spokesperson said its contract with the security firm Allied has not changed but it is supplementing the security coverage with additional guards inside and outside Navy Pier.
Bag checks and security wanding are taking place at different checkpoints across the pier and the policy requiring minors to be escorted remains in place tonight.
Navy Pier said that ultimately the numbers will make the difference. It's expecting about a third of the 75,000 guests it saw over the summer.
"We make sure we've filled the gaps that we've had in the past," Patel said.
Plenty of Chicago police patrolled Navy Pier Tuesday. The site confirmed that federal law enforcement and OEMC personnel will be helping out.
