Chicago (AFP) – Chicago on Friday was bracing for the Memorial Day weekend by deploying an extra 1,300 police officers, hoping to prevent a repeat of last year’s deadly street violence.
The three-day weekend in the murder-plagued Midwestern city ended with 71 people shot and six killed last year.
It came in a year in which Chicago experienced the highest number of shootings in nearly 20 years, with approximately 4,300 shooting victims and more than 760 people killed, according to statistics compiled by the Chicago Tribune.
This weekend, the Chicago Police Department will deploy additional officers in parks and other outdoor areas where large gatherings are common, Chief Eddie Johnson told a news conference.
“Repeat offenders willing to use illegal guns continue to wreak havoc on some of our communities,” he said.
The city’s police often go on heightened alert during the summer months, when violence escalates as more people spend time outside in the warm weather.
But, the 1,300 additional officers represents an increase from previous years, “enough to get that visibility that we want out there,” Johnson said.
Chicago has appeared to step back from the precipice so far this year. Murders are down six percent and shootings 13 percent compared to the same period last year.
Police are increasingly using technology, including surveillance cameras, predictive analytics tools and gunfire detection equipment.
The federal authorities are also targeting local gang members involved in guns and drugs.
The Justice Department announced Friday that more than 45 members of one gang were arrested in a sweep in Chicago’s troubled South Side and surrounding suburbs.
Law enforcers recovered 118 firearms and stores of cocaine, crystal methamphetamine and the powerful narcotic fentanyl, one of the drugs responsible for America’s heroin epidemic, officials said.
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