Officers from the Charlotte area in North Carolina, Philadelphia and Milwaukee are among those heading to Chicago for the NATO summit. Chicago police say Illinois state troopers will be working motorcade duty as well as patrol the command center. As part of the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System, officers across the state have been called to help.
Chicago police will also have two LRADs on hand for crowd control. They cost $20,000 each. Police say it will help clearly broadcast information to large crowds. Although they can also emit painful high-pitched alarm tones, police say they will only use them as a messaging device.
The protests have already begun. At least three of the eight anti-war protestors arrested outside President Barack Obama's downtown campaign headquarters Monday were free by Tuesday morning. The group Catholic Workers called for more money to be spent on helping the poor and less on war.
"I'm glad to be out. I thought I would be in all night, and now I can get back to work and get working for the cause to stop NATO this weekend," said Sam Yergler.
Chicago police say the additional officers from other agencies will be in town the weekend of the NATO summit. The largest protest is scheduled for Sunday. The organizers of that protest are going to be holding an event Tuesday at to outline their plans.
