IL State Police Plan to Curb Expressway Shootings by Ramping Up Patrols

In the wake of a spike in shootings on Chicago-area expressways, the Illinois State Police announced Wednesday that troopers will saturate the interstate roadways until the violence stops.

An initiative called Operation Ryan’s Hope began in April 2014 because of a rise in shootings on the Dan Ryan Expressway, a recent report in the Sun-Times said. When the shootings began to escalate on other interstate highways, the program was expanded.

Illinois State Police plan to bring multiple agencies together to ramp up patrols on Chicago’s expressway system between midnight and 4 a.m., when most of the shootings have occurred according to news reports.

Patrols will be manned by state troopers and Cook County Sheriff’s police, and some police officers will be cruising the expressways in unmarked vehicles.

“We normally have between 15 and 20 troopers on an average shift,” said Illinois State Police Maj. Luis Gutierrez told reporters at a Wednesday press conference. “In addition, with these details now, that’s going to increase our numbers to 30 to 35 troopers for a shift.”

Illinois State Police also plan to curb the gunfire through multiple roadside safety checks and seat belt checks, Guitierrez said.

During Monday’s morning rush hour, a shooting near Sayre Avenue around 5:30 a.m. shut down the Kennedy Expressway for two hours as police investigated the crime scene.

The shooting caused major delays for commuters and brought the total of interstate shootings in the Chicago region to 26 since the beginning of the year.

That number has already surpassed the number of expressway shootings reported in previous years, including 18 reported in 2014 and 16 shootings in 2013, Illinois State Police data showed.

According to Illinois State Police officials, over the past two years, one person has been killed and 23 others wounded in expressway shootings.

Most of the shootings appear to be gang-related stemming from conflicts in city neighborhoods, and occur early Saturday or Sunday morning, the Sun-Times reported.