Chicago Deploys 600 Officers To Neighborhoods Wracked By Shootings

After the most violent weekend in Chicago in more than two years, Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson announced Tuesday afternoon that several hundred additional officers have been deployed to neighborhoods most wracked by the shooting.

At his second news conference in as many days, Johnson said 430 officers have been added to patrols in five of the hardest-hit districts on the West and South sides. Those numbers will increase to 600 by the weekend, he said.

Flanked by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, various elected officials, clergymen and other police brass, Johnson said the added manpower has been deployed to three West Side districts — Ogden, Harrison and Austin — and the Calumet and Gresham districts on the South Side.

According to Chicago Tribune data, it marked the worst violence of any single weekend in Chicago since at least before 2016, the year in which homicides hit records unseen for two decades. And Sunday saw more victims shot in a single day since at least September 2011, when the Tribune began tracking every shooting in Chicago. For the entire day, 47 people were shot, including a stunning 40 during a seven-hour period early Sunday.