CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Chicago Police are looking to avoid a repeat of last weekend when about 500 young people flooded downtown and there were violent confrontations and 20 arrests.
Retailers are holding their collective breath and hoping a bad situation doesn’t escalate. Some people don’t want to go to downtown and incidents like last weekend in which a 15-year old boy was shot and wounded and a CTA bus driver was beaten don’t help.
Police Superintendent David Brown rejects the suggestion that police weren’t prepared. "We had leadership on the ground. It's just not an accurate depiction at all," he said.
Chief of Patrol Brian McDermott outlined the game plan for this weekend.
"The entire department having our first day off canceled through the weekend-we'll have additional personnel deployed across the city in our violent zones on all platforms, retail corridors, central business district on Michigan Avenue and in and around Milllennium Park," he said.
Brown said everyone is welcome in downtown, but he also said those caught breaking the law in downtown or anywhere else will be arrested and emphasized that some parents have to do better.
"Parents should not be driving their kids and dropping them off downtown," he said. "It's just irresponsible as a parent-particularly the younger kids we saw downtown, the 12- year- olds, the 14- year-olds with no adult supervision."
Police are reminding parents that the curfew for 12-16 year-olds is 11 p.m. on weekends and 9 p.m. for those under 12. Street outreach workers are also part of the plan for this weekend as well.
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