Police Keep Focus Elsewhere As Deadheads Light Up For Final Shows
CHICAGO (CBS) -- With more than 210,000 Deadheads crowding Soldier Field for three nights over the weekend, it should be no surprise there was a pervasive smell of marijuana in the air in and around the stadium as the Grateful Dead bid a final farewell to their fans.
But only three of those fans ran afoul of the law, as police focused their efforts on violent crime in the neighborhoods, rather than enforcing laws against using or possessing marijuana over three consecutive nights of Grateful Dead concerts on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Police made one marijuana possession arrest in connection to the shows on Friday, and two other people were given tickets on Sunday.
"While in most cases cannabis possession is a ticketable offense, as residents would expect, CPD's primary focus was on fighting violent crime and addressing the illegal guns that threaten our communities," Chicago Police Department communications director Anthony Guglielmi said in an email.
In Chicago as a whole, over the past couple years, police have made fewer arrests, and given out more tickets for marijuana possession than in years past.