Local agencies hold final meeting on plan to ensure Chicago DNC goes smoothly and safely
CHICAGO (CBS) -- So far, the major events of the summer of 2024 around the country and world—the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee and the Summer Olympic Games in Paris—have gone pretty flawlessly.
The hope is Chicago can keep the streak going with the Democratic National Convention next week.
As teams work through airspace protocols to national security threats, the agency bosses in charge of Chicago's DNC are painting a very optimistic picture of what lies ahead.
One final meeting of dozens of local agencies was held Tuesday, working to make it a smooth DNC, from the Chicago Transit Authority to the Department of Streets and Sanitation and the FBI.
The agencies have been putting the final touches on plans to ensure business centers, waterways, and transportation assets remain safe in Chicago. They held a tabletop exercise on the subject Tuesday, for which the news media were invited.
"The CPD is the best in the world," said U.S. Secret Service Chicago Field Office Special-Agent-in-Charge Derek Mayer. "I'm proud to tell you we are ready."
The Secret Service says the security plans are unchanged by last month's attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
"As far as comparing Butler to a national special security event, you can't compare it," said Mayer. "This is a whole-of-government approach. We've been planning for this convention for well over a year."
For weeks, officials have been showing the yellow and red security perimeter maps around the United Center and McCormick Place.
Now that the fences are up to make those security perimeters a reality, the city is making sure they have eyes and ears on both facilities.
POD cameras are in use to ensure attendees and protesters are safe.
"I'm not going to go into every little detail on what's going on around that location," said Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling. "We have eyes and ears on everything we possibly can in that location."
Snelling promised that neighborhoods outside DNC areas will remain policed, and that protesters are encouraged to be seen and heard near the United Center. But he reiterated that there are lines that can't be crossed.
"We want people to exercise their First Amendment rights. We will protect them while they're doing that," Snelling said. "But we will not guarantee someone that we're not going to make arrests if they start to act violently or commit crimes."
As questions linger over whether more migrant buses will be sent from Texas in time for the convention, and how many protesters will descend upon Chicago, CBS News Chicago wanted to know what concern point rose above the rest for officials.
Tye: "What's the singular question you'd like to have an answer to today that we can't know until next week?
Mayer: "Nothing gives me a pause. I think, you know, there will be traffic delays—but that's Chicago. We always have traffic delays.
The Chicago Police Department has made it a point to note that while Chicago still suffers from infamy for the 1968 Democratic National Convention—which infamously involved both violent clashes between protesters and police in the streets and heated discord inside the International Amphitheatre where the convention was held—the city also held the 1996 Democratic Convention, also at the United Center, and it was widely considered a success.
The city is also bullish on a recent drop in key crime categories, and successful Air and Water Show, NASCAR Street Race, and Lollapalooza this summer.
