CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Chicago’s Police Superintendent David Brown said the department is prepared for whatever the weekend brings, with an eye toward preventing violence and looting.
"We always hope for the best and prepare for the worst," Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said on the weekend's plans after officers have on more than one occasion been outnumbered or not immediately present when looting and violence has occurred. "That's just a mission of policing right now. We are hoping for peaceful protest, but we are preparing for if agitators want to come in and do something different."
Protests, nothing new, have become a regular occurrence, but the repeated looting and incidents of violence, and a mindset of some that property destruction, looting, and violence are legitimate forms of protest have police in a unique position.
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"We cannot be a city that allows mob action, crowds to meet out violence. We have taken a firm stance in ensuring First Amendment protest rights, but also when you cross the line, we will take swift enforcement actions," he said.
Supt. Brown noted that there is a specialized team of about 200 officers ready to respond to downtown trouble - the Critical Incident Response Team - and another 500 ready to respond to trouble in the city’s 77 neighborhoods - the Community Safety Team and Mobile Summer Unit.
"So we are caring and concerned about the neighborhoods, and have committed the resources," he said. "It's not just talk, because talk is cheap."
Again, CPD officers, some outfitted for combat, are going into a weekend with days-off cancelled and 12-hour shifts.
Some downtown residents are, for the first time, leery of being out at night and fear for their safety; while business owners have had it, and some will never return.