City claims it was prepared for crowds and chaos downtown this past weekend, but alderman says there weren't enough officers to make it work
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The first really warm weekend of the year brought massive crowds who created a chaotic scene in Millennium Park – with some jumping on taxis, destroying property, and making threats with weapons.
Police and city leaders say they were prepared. But as CBS 2's Tara Molina reported Monday, images from the weekend are calling that claim into question.
"Randomly jumping on cars, breaking windows, harassing innocent pedestrians who are just walking by – that's a frightening experience for people to have," said Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd).
Unfortunately, this past Saturday night was far from the first time such chaos has transpired downtown. We have tracked such incidents for years, over and over again.
But Molina is told the difference now is that there are not as many police officers to rein it in. Thus, the city safety plan that looks good on paper can't play out on our streets.
Videos taken Saturday night people jumping on a taxi and even kicking the trunk along Michigan Avenue. Such videos do not scream, "under control," but that is the message city leaders shared after hundreds flocked downtown that night.
A total of 13 people were arrested, of whom 10 were juveniles. They were charged with mob action, disorderly conduct, and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. A real gun and fake gun were both recovered by officers.
Chicago Police told us they anticipated the crowds and had sufficient resources to manage the crowd and keep the public safe. But Ald. Hopkins is calling their bluff.
"So we knew it was coming. We had a plan," Hopkins said. "But the plan relies on a certain number of police resources, and we don't have it right now."
Hopkins said the need for more police officers ended up affecting more than the Loop. It hurt an entire police district.
"At one point, we had a two-hour backlog in the 1st District - 911 calls were not being responded to," Hopkins said, "because we were throwing every police officer we could at the problems in Millennium Park and it still wasn't enough."
The Central (1st) District includes the entire Loop, but also extends west to the Kennedy and Dan Ryan expressways and south to 31st Street.
We asked Mayor Lori Lightfoot's office what all this says - with crime spiking the first warm-weather weekend heading into the summer, and with this same scene playing out for years now.
The Mayor's office only said: "We are all in receipt of your request. CPD will be in touch."
Police in turn released this statement:
"On Saturday night, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) responded to several large groups of juveniles and young adults in the downtown district and made 13 arrests. Of those arrests, 10 were juveniles and three were adults, and an additional eight juveniles were issued curfew violations. Officers recovered one handgun and one replica firearm.
"CPD anticipated the large gathering and had sufficient personnel in place to manage the crowd and ensure public safety. In addition to regular patrols in our downtown area, the Department prepares year-round for large gatherings through table-top exercises and mobilization drills. By consistently engaging in deployment exercises, we remain equipped with adequate staffing and resources to maintain public safety during large gatherings and a host of other events. Everyone is welcome to enjoy all that beautiful downtown Chicago has to offer, however, those engaging in disorderly conduct or criminal activity will be arrested and held accountable."
Hopkins is making his own suggestion in light of all of this, and given the current number of police officers.
"One thing we need to do is have a way for police officers to detain offenders for crimes being committed in real time; to be able to detain them temporarily without taking those police officers off the street for two hours while they process paperwork," Hopkins said.
Through April 17, index crimes are up 150 percent in the Loop compared with last year – though this change has to be taken with the big picture for recent years.
There have been 889 reported index crimes in the Loop this year through April 17. Last year, during the same period, there were 351.
But 2021 was an unusual year. In 2020 during the same period, there were 935 reported incidents, and in 2019, there were more than 1,500.
Index crime includes:
- Homicide
- Sex assault
- Robbery
- Aggravated assault
- Aggravated battery
- Burglary
- Theft
- Motor vehicle theft (this category does not include carjackings, which instead fall under robbery)
- Arson
This is a breakdown of citywide violent crime by neighborhood from Jan. 1 through April 17, for each year from 2018 through 2022:
Meanwhile, some viewers have reached out to us asking why the youth curfew isn't being enforced downtown on Saturday night. Some citations were issued for violations, but Hopkins told us the people causing problems downtown aren't changing plans because of a curfew.