Taste Of Chicago Security To Remain The Same
By Chuck Sudo in News on Jul 9, 2012 5:20PM
Taste of Chicago, with its downsized length, vendors and expectations, starts Wednesday but one thing that will remain in place is the security plan for the festival. And the last thing Police Supt. Garry McCarthy wants now is someone shot to death at the festival.
McCarthy said a mix of uniformed and undercover officers will patrol the festival working in concert to control crowds, entry points will be limited and police will work with private security to identify possible troublemakers and diffuse tense situations before they escalate.
Controlling the amount of violence at Taste of Chicago has taken on a greater importance since 2008, when one person was killed and three injured during a Fourth of July shooting in the Loop, blocks from Taste. In 2010, two people were stabbed in separate incidents.
While McCarthy has increased the security, probably the biggest factors that could contribute to a reduction in violence at the festival are the changes to the festival. Holding Taste of Chicago in mid-July and not the Independence Day holiday, cutting the length of the festival in half and reducing the number of vendors may just serve to keep people away.