CHICAGO (AP) - Chicago police say they’ll put more than 1,000 extra officers on the street during the long Fourth of July weekend in the hopes of stemming the violence on what has become one of the deadliest times of the year in the city.
At a news conference on Friday, police said the deployment would start Friday night and extend through next Tuesday. As the number of violent crimes has surged in recent years, putting more officers on the street during the weekends of Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day has become standard procedure.
There will also be extra Illinois State Police troopers patrolling area expressways.
Last year, the July 4th weekend ended with 50 people shot, three fatally.
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