Police Fan Out On Southeast Side In Show Of Force, Hunt For Fugitives
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago police received some assistance from their counterparts from the state, county, suburbs, and northwest Indiana as they launched an all-day sweep for criminals in the South Chicago District.
More than 200 officers attended an open-air roll call in the parking lot of a shuttered Jewel grocery at 106th Street along the Chicago Skyway before setting off in search of wanted fugitives and displaying a show of force for the local community.
"All the agencies are unique. So we're going to do warrants. We're going to do checks; parole checks, probation checks. We're going to do all those things. We're going to go through the neighborhood and show the people that there's a force – a united force – as far as fighting crime," said acting Chicago Police Chief of Patrol Fred Waller. "Everything from gang violence, theft, those type of things, burglaries, robberies."
Officers were given assignments, armed with warrants, and then spread out into the neighborhood looking for fugitives and visiting parolees, among other things.
"All kinds of warrants; all the different types of warrants that you could think of; fugitive warrants, and any type of criminal warrants," Waller said.
Indiana police officers were prepared to assist just over the state line, should the need arise.
Waller said crime numbers have been improving in the South Chicago District – which includes the South Shore, South Chicago, Calumet Heights, Avalon Park, East Side, and South Deering neighborhoods.