CPD Makes Plans to Battle Youth Violence, Enforce Curfew

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Apr 14, 2009 4:20PM

The Chicago Police Department is busy making plans to step up curfew enforcement and to build its Mobile Strike Force. Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis boasted of a small drop in curfew violations in the first quarter of 2009 (4,569 as compared to 4,937 in the same time frame last year) and said a third unit of 50 officers would be added to the rotation of the Mobile Strike Force, with the officers being taken from each of the city's 25 districts. The plan isn't without its detractors as some officers complain that the specialized units actually have a negative effect on manpower, a claim Weis denies, pointing to a 36 percent drop in homicides in districts where the Mobile Strike Force has been operating. Weis also hopes to expand the Txt2Tip program, which allows students to anonymously text tips of possible crimes to police, though he admitted that of the 70 tips received in the programs early stages, none have panned out. [Tribune]