CPD arrests 58, confiscate guns and drugs in 4th of July raids

FOX 32 NEWS - It has been a violent holiday weekend in Chicago, and police worked on ways to crack down on the violence.

It started overnight with police raids. Police say they selected the targets of those raids carefully. They’re who police say are in some cases leaders of gangs or people delegated to doing the shooting.

The raids came together after about a month of planning.

“I can assure you CPD is doing everything we can to ensure that the remainder of the holiday weekend goes well,” Supt. Johnson said.

After another bloody weekend in Chicago that saw the death of seven people and injuries to 50 more, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson announced Tuesday a series of raids conducted during the overnight hours of the July 4th holiday that he says were a success, targeting some of the most violent offenders in the city.

“To support these efforts, yesterday CPD conducted a gang enforcement mission to target the individuals that are driving the violence through the sale of drugs, and often times defending their territory by resorting to gun violence,” Johnson said.

Chicago police did it by selecting their targets primarily on the east and west sides of the city where a concentrated amount of the violence occurs, and the people selected, according to the department's chief of organized crime, are responsible for driving it.

All told, cops made 58 arrests, confiscated 7 guns and turned up 500 grams of heroin and crack cocaine.

The vast majority of those swept up in the raids are being hit with felonies - a high priority because Johnson says getting the people off the streets causing the violence for any amount of time is smart.

“If they're misdemeanor charges, then so be it. That will at least take them out for a few days, but if we can get felony charges on them, then of course they'll be out of play a lot longer,” Johnson said.

Chicago police say Tuesday was the second day of raids, putting a total of 130 targets in their sights.