Surprise DNC security measures crop up along Mag Mile, other parts of downtown Chicago
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The preparations for the Democratic National Convention are in high gear, and on Saturday security measures surprisingly spilled over into neighborhoods nowhere near the United Center or McCormick Place.
At the Dirksen Federal Building in the Loop, security gates popped up overnight to prevent anyone from vandalizing the courthouse, while people living along the Magnificent Mile and Gold Coast discovered unexpected more security gates and road closures miles away from the DNC sites.
"They put this up like 5:30 in the morning. So they kind of did it under the wraps," Chris McClendon. "I live right over here at the Hancock Building. When I came outside, I had to go check the map to see what's going on. I thought this was at the United Center."
Along the Magnificent Mile near Chicago Avenue, roads have been blocked off, police officers are on standby, and large security gates have partially cut off access to sidewalks. The measures popped up overnight, leaving McClendon a little perplexed.
"I had to go back and get my wallet to make sure no one checked me, because I heard they're going to do checks and stuff like that," he said.
Chicagoans were fully aware of the security measures going on around the United Center and McCormick place for the DNC, but now communities nowhere near the convention locations are impacted too.
"I really just think they should have at least given us a heads up," McClendon said.
But David Woulard said he thinks it was the right move for police and the Secret Service not to warn about the downtown street closures.
"To have complete level of safety and security, you can't put that stuff out in advance," he said.
Some of the security measures in place ahead of the DNC aren't obvious at first glance. In the South Loop, some manhole covers are marked over with seals, letting officials know if they've been tampered with.
In downtown, outside the Dirksen Federal Building, huge security gates anchored by concrete pillars went up around the courthouse on Saturday. Similar extra security is popping up elsewhere downtown.
"With everything that just happened with former President Trump, you've got to set up as much safety protocols as possible. That just seems like it would be the case. With that many diplomats in one place, I'd expect it to be a level of security," Woulard said.
But all of the new security outside of the United Center and McCormick Place security perimeters seemed excessive to McClendon.
"I feel like I'm walking into a jail or something over there," he said.
The DNC Public Safety Joint information Center – consisting of local and federal law enforcement agencies – acknowledged there would be more road closures through the convention. Some will last throughout the DNC, while others will be more temporary.
