Chicago Top Cop Says More Cops Will Guard Downtown This Weekend

CHICAGO — In response to a wild Saturday night downtown last week that left a 12-year-old shot in the back, a CTA bus driver beaten, and 20 young people arrested for recklessness and disorderly conduct and battery, top cop David Brown announced plans to beef-up weekend patrols for the holidays.

Police officers had one of two regular days off cancelled for this weekend as part of a plan to have more cops patrolling across the city in "violent zones," retail corridors, CTA train platforms and the central business district, including Michigan Avenue.

Boosting the number of officers is part of a "comprehensive plan" geared at responding to large gatherings of young people at Millennium Park that authorities say are expected this weekend.

Brown didn't offer details about how many additional officers will be deployed, but he did say there will be "more aggressive" efforts to make arrests at the first sing of criminal behavior.

"Everyone is always welcomed downtown, everyone," he said. "Chicago belongs to all of us, but if you come downtown or anywhere else to engage in disorderly conduct or other crimes, you will get arrested."

The top cop urged parents to make sure their children are supervised while visiting the Loop. Babysitting people's kids, he said, "is not the role of policing."

"Parents should not be driving their kids from all parts of Chicagoland and dropping them off downtown," Brown said. "It’s just irresponsible as a parent, particularly the younger kids we saw downtown: the 12-year-olds, the 14-year-olds with no adult supervision."