The Chicago Police Division carried out a series of overnight raids from Thursday into Friday that resulted in 81 arrests, mainly for drug- and weapons-associated offenses, Supt. Eddie Johnson mentioned Friday.
The raids, focused on the city's South and West Side neighborhoods, have been "focused on the underlying source of crime in these regions: the sale of narcotics," Johnson said at a press conference Friday afternoon.
Watch the "FB Live" presser recap associated to results of overnight raids and arrests https://t.co/WOziZli1LG pic.twitter.com/KUyf9sTSUN
Of the 81 men and women arrested, Johnson mentioned 61 are previously convicted felons, 49 are documented gang members, 19 have previously been arrested on gun charges, 14 are presently on parole, and 65 have been previously identified by police to be at a higher danger to be a victim or offender of gun violence.
"There are repeat gun offenders that a single, don't care they're on parole, two, never care about the truth they are already previously convicted felons," Johnson said.
Police are still seeking for 40 persons targeted in the raids, and said yet another raid in the coming weeks will have federal help.
Twelve firearms had been also seized by police during the raids, Johnson mentioned.
Anthony Riccio, chief of organized crime, stated, "One of the guns we took off the street ... is in fact a machine gun capable of firing 40 to 50 rounds in just a matter of seconds."
Johnson added, "We are practically double in gun arrests than we had been the exact same time final year -- that's a ridiculous quantity."
Drugs had been also seized in the raids, which had been planned for about three weeks.
"Narcotics and narcotic sales is the factor that enables the shopping for of guns," Riccio said.
Johnson urged lawmakers at each and every level of government to help with stemming Chicago's seemingly out of manage gun violence.
"CPD can do far better, our judicial system can do far better, our state legislators can do much better. It takes all of us," he said. "If you are OK each and every day sitting by watching these folks die and that is OK with you, then good luck on that. But if you care at all, you should be assisting the city do one thing about this violence."
Johnson said stricter punishment for repeat gun offenders would stem the violence, because achievable offenders would know the severity of the consequences and act as a deterrent from picking up a gun in the very first place.
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