Chicago Police Superintendent "Not Clear" On Tear Gas As Crowd Control For NATO/G8 Summits

By aaroncynic in News on Feb 17, 2012 5:00PM

Secret Service officers and Chicago Police answered a few questions about the NATO/G8 summits at a business panel, the Tribune reports. In some very candid comments on Wednesday at the Federal Reserve, officials urged businesses to remain calm in May.

Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy talked tear gas, saying “I’m trying to figure out how tear gas helps you control a crowd. It’s never really become clear to me." He did however, suggest that police would snatch some protesters out of a crowd. "My expectation is we’ll have an extraction team," McCarthy said.

Meanwhile, Frank Benedetto, special agent-in-charge of the U.S. Secret Service in Chicago, tried to assuage fears that business would be interrupted during the summits. When asked by a representative from the New York Stock Exchange concerned about employees working at a data center based in Chicago getting credentials, Benedetto said "The appropriate arrangements will be made for employees to have access. Our security plan will not stop employees from getting where they need to to get to work anywhere in the city.” He did however, say that boats docked in Burnham Harbor would be moved.

Robert Grant, head of the FBI in Chicago, told attendees things would go smoothly, saying "If we were in Peoria I would be worried about it, but not Chicago."