More Neighboring Departments Teaming Up With Chicago Police To Crack Down On Carjackers
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Chicago Police Department's carjacking task force is extending its reach beyond the city. With more resources, it's heading to the suburbs and even across state lines.
With the continued surge in carjackings comes a need for more resources. That was the word from Chicago Police Supt. David Brown on Wednesday afternoon, as he announced police in Forest Park, Oak Brook, and Berkeley, and the Lake County Sheriff's Office in Indiana are joining CPD's carjacking task force.
As he has repeated for months, Brown said the majority of carjackers are young people, targeting older drivers in their 50s and 60s.
But now, carjacking crime from Chicago is flowing into neighboring communities and across the state border.
Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. said they've seen an uptick in carjackings with ties to Chicago since the start of the pandemic, and working with CPD has helped them make arrests.
"We started to see significant differences in arrests, bringing those that are carjacking to justice, and they're all related. When you say carjacking, guns are involved, drugs are involved," he said. "If you think you're going to come into Indiana, and cross the state line, and we won't chase you, we will. We will chase you."
Chicago Police said, while carjackings so far this year are down 22% so far this year compared to the same time last year, data gathered by CBS 2 shows carjackings are still double what was reported during the same time frame in 2020.
Through Feb. 8 of this year, there have already been 201 carjackings in Chicago.
Brown said 182 people have been arrested so far this year for crimes connected to carjackings.
WEB EXTRA: Tracking Chicago's Carjackings