Chicago police are working on strategies in case there are any other large teen gatherings downtown this weekend.
Interim Supt. Eric Carter, who announced his retirement effective in mid-May, says the department is working on plans, and spoke about the gatherings at Thursday’s police board meeting.
“I want to be clear that everyone is welcome downtown but anyone engaging in criminal activity will have to be held accountable,” he said.
Chicago Ald. Brian Hopkins told NBC 5 he was briefed by CPD on how the department plans to address large crowds and respond to potential outbreak of violence.
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“I’m satisfied that a real effort is being made to not repeat the mistakes of last weekend. Whether or not it’s going to work we’ll find out on Monday morning,” said Hopkins.
Hopkins said the plan includes having ranking officers on the ground to make decisions on staffing, adding undercover resources, and deploying prisoner transport vans at different locations, all of which the department was criticized for not emphasizing during last week's disturbances.
“We will also have faith based leaders, and will have people from the Chicago Public Schools along with violence interrupters who are trained to do interventions,” he said.
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A group of pastors is also working to help with any potential issues, including putting together plans for a march along Michigan Avenue to send a message to teens that what happened this past weekend is not okay.
“I think that what we saw was a reflection of something much deeper with children,” said Bishop Horace Smith. “Young people don’t have a lot of hope, but that’s not an excuse because that behavior was unacceptable.”
Smith, who represents Apostolic Faith Church, is calling on 500 Black men to join them on the march and guide teens to resources.
“We miss demand that our kids are being exposed to positive things that we were exposed to and show them how the future is bright for them,” he said.
