Chicago police says more than 100 people were arrested over the weekend during citywide raids focusing on what they called the “main source of violence in the city” – illegal guns and narcotics.
A total of 120 arrests were made during the raids that began late last week.
“These arrests were targeting the guys that were driving the violence,” said Chief Tony Riccio.
Riccio noted that 40 of the arrests that were made came from the city’s 11th District, one of the most violent.
In addition, 19 guns were recovered, including three shot guns and four rifles, police said.
“These guns are guns that were going to be used on the street,” Riccio said.
The arrests come amid a particularly violent weekend and start to the year in Chicago, though Superintendent Eddie Johnson said he did not believe any of the weekend arrests were connected to the latest round of shootings.
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Six people were killed and at least 47 others were wounded in shootings across the city between Friday evening and Monday morning, according to authorities.
Still, Johnson said he believes the gun recoveries made over the weekend “underscores a very real problem.”
Johnson noted that the department continues to implement new procedures as a result of the U.S. Department of Justice report released earlier this month, but this weekend’s raids were in addition to those initiatives.
“We cannot wait to act,” he said, continuing his call for stiffer penalties for repeat gun offenders.
Johnson added that while police arrests for gun offenders are on the rise, more change is needed on a legislative level.
“It’s frustrating for [officers] to see these same individuals back on the street time and time again after they arrest them,” he said.
