Chicago Police Department Deploys 1,200 More Officers For July 4 Weekend

The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is deploying 1,200 more officers in the streets beginning Thursday (July 2) in preparation for the July 4 weekend holiday, after recent gun-related incidents led to many deaths.

Police Superintendent David Brown said in a press conference Monday (June 28) these additional officers will be assigned to patrol "hotspots" that have had a surge of violence during two weekends, leaving hundreds of people wounded and 24 killed. Among the dead were Sincere Gaston, a 20-month-old boy, who was on the ride home from a laundromat with his mother, and a 10-year-old girl, Lena Nunez, who was hit with a stray bullet by gang members, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

“We didn’t do it last weekend and the Memorial Day weekend,” Brown said. “This weekend, we’ll have an additional 1,200 cops every day from Thursday through Sunday.”

The police chief received heavy criticisms after the Memorial Day weekend bloodshed, which left 49 persons shot and 10 dead, and the Father's Day weekend violence that saw 14 persons dead and 100 shot.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot acknowledged there was a failure in the CPD's strategy. In the past, the CPD usually increased patrols during weekend holidays as Chicago historically experienced more shootings then. However, the gun-related crimes during non-weekend holidays have also risen at an alarming rate.

Brown, who was assigned to the post in April, believes the coronavirus crisis contributed to the spike in shootings in Chicago. Because regular criminal court proceedings have been limited, more people with pending court cases have been allowed in the streets with electronic monitoring devices.

Reports cited about 1,600 inmates at the Cook County jail were released from May 1 to June 1. Brown said many of them are taking advantage of their temporary freedom so he is also pleading with the courts to keep those who are still in jail locked up for the Independence Day weekend.