1,000 Additional Cops Deployed For Chicago Marathon, Including 'Heavy Undercover Presence'

By Stephen Gossett in News on Oct 5, 2017 7:38PM

Chicago Marathon, 2016 / Photo: Tyler LaRiviere

An additional 1,000 police officers will be deployed around the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, including a "heavy undercover presence," authorities said on Thursday.

The announcement comes in the wake of news that Stephen Paddock, the gunman who killed 59 people and injured hundreds more in Las Vegas, booked two rooms at a hotel across from Lollapalooza for dates during the festival. A representative for Blackstone Hotel confirmed to Chicagoist that a reservation was made under the shooter's name, but no guest by that name stayed at the hotel during Lollapalooza.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel said on Thursday the city is "going to go forward correctly with the Bank of America Chicago Marathon because it’s the right thing to do..." at a press conference about the marathon, according to the Tribune.

Chicago Police Department spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi tweeted on Thursday, after the Lollapalooza reports came to light, that "well over" 1,000 extra officers were added for the Chicago Marathon. Many will be working undercover.

Guglielmi's comment was echoed by Anthony Riccio, chief of CPD's Organized Crime bureau, who said the department is deploying "a significantly larger number of undercover officers" to be spread within the crowd and at various points along the route.

Office of Emergency Management and Communications Director Alicia Tate-Nadeau was also on hand at Thursday's press conference. She said she was unable to go into much detail about specific tactics, but stressed that authorities have "a very robust plan in place."

Emanuel said on Monday in the wake of the mass shooting in Las Vegas that had ratcheted up security for major events after the Boston marathon bombing in 2013 and for the World Series victory rally in 2016. The city has run six "active shooter incident" drills over the last year, Emanuel said.

Wave 1 of the Chicago Marathon begins at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday.