Although I agree with Ald. Brian Hopkins that there is room to improve how the Chicago Police Department managed checkpoints for Loop residents during the Mexican Independence Day celebration this past weekend, I completely disagree with Hopkins’ words that the CPD’s overall performance was “a complete failure.” My wife and I attended the event on Saturday evening.
We drove to Pilsen from the suburbs. Then we took the Pink Line from Pilsen into the Loop, and then we walked from Wabash all the way to Grant Park to experience the El Grito event. We were glad we were there: Our Saturday evening in the Loop turned out to be a very pleasant and highly enjoyable evening! From beginning to end, I noticed the professionalism of CPD officers throughout the celebration, whether in Grant Park or on Michigan Avenue by Millennium Park.
I was witness to the difficult job they patiently and responsibly carried out — directing and redirecting, as well as re-routing, the caravans in the safest way possible for all involved. They succeeded! I personally want to thank the CPD officers for keeping the evening event safe for everybody, in spite of the incredible challenge. One observation about our experience seeing the caravans of cars and trucks: Giving what I had seen on television and social media last year, I was also, like Hopkins, concerned about the caravans.
But what turned out to be fascinating to us is that most folks inside the caravan vehicles were, more often than not, par.