Chicago trains law enforcement to navigate areas hit hard by looters, vandals

CHICAGO - The city practiced dispatching CPD squads, along with other city vehicles, to strategically block streets all the way from Division down to 18th street on Thursday night.

Concrete barriers are now part of the downtown cityscape. The blockades were installed to give the city the ability to block streets to vehicles at a moment's notice.

“I think it's really smart to be proactive with these things and being more aware of these things before a situation might happen is a great idea,” one woman said.

The drill comes in the wake of mass looting, where criminals used personal cars, trucks and u-hauls to get away with stolen merchandise. 

A long-time Gold Coast resident says he feels very ambivalent about these measures.

“We're getting a little carried away here with protecting our property and protecting our neighborhoods when all this other terrible stuff is going on around the city of Chicago,” said the resident.

OEMC says Thursday’s drill was not in response to any specific incident, but there is another protest planned for Saturday.