Gang Members Charged in 'Takedown Mission'

CHICAGO, IL - Chicago Police Department narcotics and vice units made 16 felony arrests recently as part of a “takedown mission” targeted at gang operations in the 20th District, which includes Lincoln Square, Uptown and parts of other neighborhoods on the North Side of the city.

Of the 16 arrests made over the mission’s two-month period, half were of documented gang members and 13 were listed in the department’s Strategic Subject List, an algorithm which calculates the propensity of an individual to be a victim of gun violence in their lifetime.

“Specific areas were targeted in the district based upon historical crime incidents, known locations of narcotics sales, vice complaints, and business locations associated with criminal activity,” police reported in a news release Tuesday.

Several building code violations were made during the mission, which targeted businesses that have been associated with criminal activity as well. One business, in the 5000 block of N. Sheridan Rd., was ordered to shut down.