'Thousands' Of Police Officers Will Be On Duty For Memorial Day Weekend

By Rachel Cromidas in News on May 27, 2016 5:45PM

As Chicago heads into a downright summery Memorial Day Weekend, Chicago Police Chief Eddie Johnson says the department will be assigning "thousands" of extra officers to patrol the parks, beaches and streets this weekend.

"Several thousand police officers will be deployed in uniform throughout the neighborhoods, parks, roadways and the lakefront to make sure everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend," Johnson said at a Friday morning news conference, but declined to give an exact number, according to the Sun-Times. Johnson said there will be extra bike patrol units on the roads this weekend as well.

Chicago has suffered through an unusually violent winter and spring, and crime data from last Memorial Day Weekend gives cause for concern that this weekend could see an uptick in shootings. As of this week, over 1,382 people have been shot so far this year in Chicago, according to a tally of police data—marking a significant uptick from the tally by this time last year. Last year's Memorial Day Weekend saw an alarming 56 shootings in Chicago, 12 of which were fatal.

Since there has also been a surge in shootings on the Chicago area's expressways this year, state police will also send additional troopers out on patrol this weekend, Director Leo Schmitz said at the news conference.