Everyone from Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Gov. Pat Quinn to President Barack Obama has lauded Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy and his staff for a job well done during the NATO Summit.
Though some worried the summit would bring violent protests like those in Seattle in 1999, communities across the country are now looking to the CPD's example on how to handle large crowds.
McCarthy too went on record multiple times thanking Chicago officers, at one point choking up while talking about CPD's commitment and tactful response. Again on Wednesday, McCarthy gave the job high marks.
"We predicted basically every single thing that was going to happen," McCarthy told NBC Chicago, pointing to a plan in place he said police officers fully executed. "I'll score it sometime, but it's at least an A, I'll give you that."
His one disappointment? Not fully blocking the Black Bloc.
"We had people who came here with a very specific mission," McCarthy said. "We told everybody what was going to happen. It's a little frustrating that people called the Black Bloc protesters, they have nothing to do with that NATO protest. I'm not sure they even know what NATO is.
"That's my only disappoint, that we could've prevented that from happening. But we were prepared."
McCarthy was seen on the front line throughout the weekend as potentially dangerous crowds surged.
"You couldn't have paid me enough money to get me to be anywhere else on Earth than on Cermak on Sunday. It was my job to be there with them, to support them and hopefully I provided some leadership that helped out."
Looking back he said, "I'm not sure we could've done much better."
