Police, CPS, other organizations prepare ahead of time to prevent repeat of Loop chaos
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago Police, school district leaders, and violence interrupters say they are working together to keep things calm downtown this weekend.
As CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reported Friday, preparations are underway in hopes of preventing a replay if the shootings, beatings, robberies, and vandalism that happened last Saturday night – all in large crowds of mostly teens. It was at State and Madison streets – ground zero on the Chicago street grid - where two teens in a large crowd were shot Saturday night.
A man and woman were also attacked on Wabash Avenue. Ashley Knutson and Devonte "DJ" Johnson were in town from South Carolina and were walking in the Loop just trying to find a place to eat, when they were cornered and attacked with no way out.
Chicago Police will not give us too many details about their plans to prevent such mayhem from happening again – but Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) spoke to chiefs and deputy chiefs, and he says officers are conducting tabletop exercises - simulating what happened and trying different tactics to control situations.
As CBS 2's Marissa Perlman reported, a curfew for minors in Millennium Park is being enforced. Anyone under 18 was required to be accompanied by an adult after 4 p.m. Friday – two hours earlier than the teen curfew at the park put into place last year.
Access to Millennium Park was blocked off with grates Friday evening. Salt trucks were also posted to protect the area.
Across downtown, Chicago Police officers on foot, on bike, and parked on streets represented a visual effort to send a message to young people in the city.
There is also another big change in place. Senior ranking officers were to be on the ground – and they will be taking command of situations.
"There'll be ranking senior officers on the ground to take command of the situation. We'll have captains, we'll have lieutenants, we'll have sergeants," said Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd). "They will be directing the younger officers who don't necessarily have experience being in the middle of a riot, which basically is what happened."
Hopkins represents parts of the downtown area. He said the senior ranking officers would also issue arrest orders if necessary.
"Prisoner transport vans - and they'll be parked in strategic locations, and they send an unspoken message," Hopkins said. "Just the fact that they're there and they're ready lets people know if you attack someone; if you display a weapon; if you shoot a weapon, you'll be arrested and you'll be in one of those vans."
The vans were parked in strategic positions in Millennium Park ahead of time, Hopkins said.
Hopkins says the exercises officers used go back to the training they received during the NATO Summit in Chicago back in 2012.
"You identify the people in the crowd who are trying to spark the violence - and you take them into custody immediately - and other people see that," Hopkins explained, "and they'll change their mind if they were thinking, 'Hey, maybe I'm going to do that,' when they see someone wind up in handcuffs for doing it."
Hopkins said violence interrupters would also be out in force, along with faith-based leaders from the South Side, and Chicago Public Schools officials - who can recognize students and intervene in situations.
"(They) can recognize CPS students on site and intervene and try to tell them: 'Don't do what you think you're going to do. It's just going to cause problems for you and your family, so don't do it,'" Hopkins said.
CPS sent an email to parents entitled, "A Critical Message About Student Safety in our City." Among the things mentioned was that parents should encourage their children, "to spend time with a few friends rather than gravitating toward large gatherings."
The full email from CPS Chief Executive Officer Pedro Martinez follows:
Dear CPS Families,
As the weather continues to get warmer, we know that our students will want to spend time outdoors with friends. I want all of our kids to socialize outside and enjoy the spring and summer months, but we need to work together to keep them safe.
As we saw in our city last weekend, large, unsupervised gatherings of young people can get easily out of hand. This can lead to traumatizing experiences for our kids, and worse, serious injury or even fatalities. Last weekend was a reminder to all of us that we must do more to keep our children and our communities safe.
The best way to keep your kids safe is to know who they are spending time with and what their plans are when they leave home. Please also be sure that your children know how to reach you, and please encourage them to spend time with a few friends rather than gravitating toward large gatherings.
I want our kids to experience everything this amazing city has to offer. And while they do, I want them to reflect all of the values that our District stands for — integrity, leadership, and above all, respect for others in and beyond the classroom.
From sports leagues, to arts programs, to employment opportunities, there are so many programs available to help keep kids engaged during the weekends and throughout the summer. I encourage you to visit cps.edu/summerprograms, MyChiMyFuture.org, Chicago Public Library, and the City's Park District website to find programs that are right for your family.
As CPS CEO, I witness our students' potential daily. They are the future of our city and our world, and we need to make sure they have the chance to achieve everything they are dreaming about right now. I know that our families share this commitment, and I thank you for your partnership in helping keep students safe during these spring and summer months.
Sincerely,
Pedro Martinez
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Public Schools
Hopkins says there will also be visible safety measures, like officers on bikes and on foot - but also things you won't see like cameras being monitored by officials from a distance, who in turn can communicate via radio to officers on the ground.
Police sources also said officers will be in immediate contact the Office of Emergency Management and Communications anytime an incident happens.
Even so, the chaos and the fear of more are curbing planned events in the city. The chaos that the city saw last weekend is a detriment to Chicago in multiple ways – Hopkins emphasized.
"It impacts our ability to attract conventions and to attract tourism, and we have to change this," Hopkins said.
The possible threat of violence is also behind a last-minute venue change for a music performance by several west suburban schools.
The concert was to be held Friday evening at Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave. It was to involve band, orchestra, and choir students form the Leyden High Schools – East Leyden in Franklin Park and West Leyden in Northlake – as well as Franklin Park School District 84, Rhodes School District 84.5 in River Grove, Rosemont Elementary School District 78, and Schiller Park School District 81.
But the school districts believe Symphony Center is too close to Millennium Park and are concerned that more unrest like what happened last weekend could be coming.
"We have been actively monitoring the situation unfolding in downtown Chicago over the past couple of weeks, given the proximity of Millennium Park to that of the Chicago Symphony Center location. We have coordinated with local law enforcement agencies and what we know at this time is that there is a reason to believe that active demonstrations may occur in Millennium Park this weekend," school district officials wrote. "No specific actions have been confirmed, however, a city curfew has been put in place and local law enforcement agencies are putting plans in place to address a potential situation."
The letter did not specify what was meant by a "city curfew."
Again, the teen curfew in Millennium Park is being enforced and started two hours earlier than in the past on Friday, and an earlier 10 p.m. citywide curfew for teens was approved last year. But there is no citywide curfew like the one instituted during the height of unrest in Chicago following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in 2020, nor any discussion of plans for one.
Still, the school districts concluded that the concert must be moved for safety reasons – and it was instead held at Oak Park and River Forest High School.
JPMorgan Chase Bank also sent an email to all its employees Friday – warning of the potential for problems in the city this weekend.
Meanwhile, Hopkins said all these new preventative tactics police are using will be put to the test this spring and summer – but also went on to say it is up to the next police superintendent to implement lasting changes.
