Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Heading into the weekend, police hit the streets of a jittery Chicago rocked by violence. By any measure, this is an emergency. And the response is coming from all directions.

CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports Mayor Richard M. Daley called a summit Friday to tackle gangs and guns, spurred by 40 shootings and 12 dead in seven days. 

Police Supt. Jody Weis personally inspected his troops Friday night before they hit the streets on the South Side, kicking off the first weekend of beefed up patrols to combat the recent wave of violence.

"We want to let people know that we're not going to allow that flare-up of gang violence that we had last weekend," Weis said. "It's very important for the communities to feel safe, and we want to do everything within our power to make sure the communities remain safe."

Police planned to increase patrols and put SWAT officers and specialized units on the streets over the weekend, a show of force aimed at deterring violence like the three dozen shootings that left nine people dead last weekend.

"Weather permitting, we will have our helicopter up," said police News Affairs Director Monique Bond, who said Thursday night was relatively quiet, with only four shootings, none fatal.

Police Supt Jody Weis personally inspected his troops Friday night before they hit the streets of Chicago's South Side neighborhood, kicking off the first weekend of beefed up patrols to combat the recent wave of violence, reported CBS station WBBM-TV in Chicago.

"We want to let people know that we're not going to allow that flare-up of gang violence that we had last weekend," Weis said. "It's very important for the communities to feel safe, and we want to do everything within our power to make sure the communities remain safe."

Chicago police officers will be armed with combat rifles to better rival the firepower of street gangs, police Superintendent Jody Weis announced Friday.  

Weis unveiled the plan to equip and train the department's 13,500 officers with M4 carbines.

Details about when the change would happen and who would pay for the guns were not disclosed.

The idea came as a surprise to many, since Chicago Mayor Richard Daley is a vocal gun control proponent.

At a news conference Saturday, Daley said the M4 carbines "will be seldom used" and while he is an advocate of gun control, the decision to equip officers with the rifles was "not difficult."

"The weapons of criminals are getting bigger and bigger," he said.

Chicago Police SWAT teams are equipped with M4 carbines, but police officers are currently only allowed to carry handguns.

The M4 is a short assault rifle used by the U.S. Marine Corps. It fires more shots in less time than most handguns.

Before the meeting, some participants talked about possible solutions to end the violence.

The Rev. Bruce Wellems, pastor of Holy Cross Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on the city's South Side, suggested that adults need to get to know the young people in their neighborhoods.

"I think they have to step into the community and accompany these kids," he said.

And Tio Hardiman, executive director of CeaseFire, an anti-violence group, said young people need help finding alternatives to the streets.

"We need to go right to the corners and find out what some of these young people want to do, identify some employers that are willing to hire maybe 30 from this neighborhood, 30 from another neighborhood and try to get them hired somewhere so then we can get them off the corners."

They went into action just hours after Mayor Daley convened a meeting of community leaders and activists. The mayor, clearly frustrated and angered by the violence, called not only on police, but on parents, too.

"I want the parents of the block to say this block will be free of violence," Daley said. "This summer not one child will be sold to gangs and drug dealers." 

Religious leaders said they had persuaded some churches to open their doors in the afternoons and evenings to protect people from gunfire.

"We just picked up about four more churches in Austin that's going to open their doors as a safe haven," said Ira Acree, an activist and pastor of the Greater St. John Bible Church. 

A fired-up Daley blasted the gun industry and called on parents and adults to do their part by intervening to help troubled youth and by working to keep others on the right path.

"I don't want people to wait for Mayor Daley to call a meeting. I want you to call a meeting in your home with your children and loved ones. I want you to go next door and talk to those children next door. I want the parents of the block to say 'This block will be free of violence,'" he said.

It is key for children to be occupied in after-school or other programs so they stay out of trouble, especially when they're not in a classroom, Daley said.

In the past week, 40 people have been shot, 12 of them killed.

But some of those at the City Hall meeting today had different takes on the problem.

"It's nothing new, really. Last year, at the same time, we had a lot of violence," Tio Hardiman of anti-violence group CeaseFire said. "It's not really about the weather. It's about a lot of people who can't get along out there." 

Hardiman said young people need help finding alternatives to the streets.

"We need to go right to the corners and find out what some of these young people want to do, identify some employers that are willing to hire maybe 30 from this neighborhood, 30 from another neighborhood and try to get them hired somewhere so then we can get them off the corners."

But Daley said joblessness does not justify violence.

"When the killing is done, you still don't have a job, in fact, it greatly decreases the chances that you ever ... will have a job," he said.

Hardiman said he expected that violence would not be as bad this weekend because of the police presence and other steps by community groups, including his group's efforts to talk to gang members and mediate disputes. Last weekend, there were 36 shootings - at least 14 of which police believed were gang related.

But he said he's concerned about possible repercussions from a shooting at a McDonald's on Monday night that left one man dead and four others injured.

The area where the shooting took place is believe to be a stronghold of the Gangster Disciples street gang and Hardiman said he's concerned that someone may try to retaliate.

Meanwhile, a group of ministers and other community leaders held a vigil at the site of this week's murder of five people at 76th and Rhodes.

"Get our community active and get the fear out it, the stigma of fear," said Rev. Robin Hood of Clergy Committed to Community. "Shootings bring fear but the people need to rise up and take the community back."

Friday night's rain should help cool things down. So should this weekend's forecast of cooler temperatures.

But no one will be fooled by a death toll which figures to be lower than last week, only that it may buy some time until those initiatives by the mayor, the ministers and the police pay off.

CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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