Chicago Police, Feds Score 74 Arrests In Gang Enforcement Mission

CHICAGO, IL – Chicago police struck at the heart of gang operations in a recent crackdown that netted 74 arrests, including 32 documented gang members.

Working in partnership with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, Chicago police conducted recently ran a Narcotics Unified Enforcement Mission in the 11th and 15th Districts.

The mission targeted specific areas in certain police districts based upon historical crime incidents, known locations of narcotics sales, vice complaints, and known areas of street gang activity, police said.

With the arrests came seizures of guns, narcotics, cash and unstamped cigarettes. Police said of the total arrests, 60 of the offenders are listed on the Chicago Police Department’s Strategic Subject List (SSL). The SSL is an algorithm which calculates the propensity of an individual to be a victim of gun violence in their lifetime. This score is based upon previous contact with police, known affiliations with gang members, and geographic location.

The missions resulted in the seizure of:

• 8 weapons
• One MAC-11 Machine Pistol
• One 9mm Handg
• One .40cal Handgun
• Two .38cal Handguns
• One .45cal Handgun
• Two .22cal Handgun
• Four vehicles
• 205 packs of unstamped cigarettes
• Over $13,000 in U.S. Currency

“The Chicago Police Department will remain steadfast in its mission to weaken street gangs by targeting their operations,” Chicago Police Interim Superintendent John Escalante said in a news release. “By removing their sources of funding we can make it harder for them to sustain their activities and make the streets of Chicago safer.”

Police and federal agencies have been conducting targeted enforcements of specific areas, which they claim are having an impact on firearms violence in Chicago.