Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling said Thursday communication will be key to keeping the peace if and when President Donald Trump sends the National Guard to patrol the streets of Chicago, but the top cop hasn’t used his department’s close relationship with the feds to learn their intentions in advance.
During a virtual briefing that included Mayor Brandon Johnson and members of his senior leadership team, Snelling also stressed that his officers won’t assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who attempt to conduct raids, nor will Chicago cops ask for the immigration status of crime victims or anyone seeking help.
Instead of dispatching “our officers alone” to respond to reports of immigration enforcement, police supervisors will be dispatched to the scene of ICE enforcement actions to “assess the situation,” the superintendent said.
If the supervisors determine that it’s “only immigration enforcement,” Snelling said, Chicago cops will “not be in those areas assisting in any way.” But they won’t be “obstructing federal agents” either, Snelling added.
“We don’t want people to fear the Chicago Police Department and we don’t want them to live being a victim of any type of crime or need emergency assistance and not get it because they’re afraid of calling 911,” the superintendent told reporters. “We don’t care about your status at this point. What we want to make sure is that we can get there and provide help.”
National Guard members patrolling the streets of Washington, D.C. have reportedly been asked to clear out homeless encampments in the nation’s capital and possibly even take people who are unhoused into custody.
That won’t happen here — at least not with the city’s help, according to Chief Homelessness Officer Sendy Soto.
“The city of Chicago will work with any homeless encampment that is within our purview. If they are in public spaces, particularly at public parks, we are also supporting the park district to ensure that we can provide … wraparound services to as many people as we can if they are in that moment,” Soto said.
“But in terms of arrest or clearing encampments along with federal agents, we will not be doing that.”
Chicago a favorite Trump target
Chicago has long been one of Trump’s favorite and most frequent political targets — even though he chose the city to build his 96-story Trump International Hotel & Tower along the Chicago River with a 2,891-square foot sign bearing his name.
On the day he seized control over the D.C. police department and ordered the National Guard to patrol the streets of the nation’s capital, Trump warned that Chicago would be next.
The president has repeated the threat in recent days, even as he suggested that it might be better to wait for Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker to ask for federal help.
Earlier this week, Pritzker orchestrated a riverfront news conference to condemn the president’s threat to, as he put it, “invade” Chicago.
Pritzker arrived in a river taxi and joined political, civic, community and business leaders gathered along the Chicago River on a summer afternoon to showcase a city that, they claimed, is doing just fine without federal help.
Flanked by elected officials and supporters, Gov. JB Pritzker speaks during a news conference Aug. 25 at River Point Park, and discusses the prospect of President Donald Trump sending National Guard troops to Chicago.
Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
The governor acknowledged that there is nothing he can do in advance to prevent the “unconstitutional” intrusion. But he vowed to do everything legally possible to stop it after the fact.
Since then, the Sun-Times has reported that north suburban Naval Station Great Lakes may be used to house ICE agents and National Guard troops next month, perhaps for much of September.
On Thursday, Snelling and Johnson insisted that they are still flying blind.
No one in the Trump administration has reached out to them to give Chicago a heads-up on what, if anything, is being planned, and CPD has not reached out to the feds to ask what they intend.
Snelling acknowledged that his officers work alongside federal agents on a host of crime-fighting missions and on a daily basis at the Crime Prevention and Information Center, a technology hub critical to the department’s operations.
City in the dark on Trump plans
But that ongoing relationship has not given CPD advance word on Trump’s plans for Chicago, Snelling said.
“Even if we did, there would be certain things that we would not necessarily share with the public because there may not be a clear understanding of what that communication is on behalf of the public,” Snelling said.
“We don’t want to raise any fears. We don’t want to create any speculation around what’s going on until we have concrete information… We don’t want people running scared” or creating “chaos on our streets.”
Johnson was asked who in his administration has reached out to the Trump administration about its plans for Chicago.
“We have not had any communications with the White House regarding the president’s alleged — not alleged — but his purported desire to send federal troops into cities across America. He has not communicated with us,” the mayor said.
“Typically there’s … the chain of communications that flows through our police department that happens on a regular basis around getting guns off the streets of Chicago, cracking down on gangs, human trafficking and drugs. There’s been a coordinated effort to address … any of the critical issues that we do face. Unfortunately, we have not had that level of coordination and cooperation on this particular matter.”
If and when federal agents or National Guard members arrive in Chicago, Snelling said “communication will be the key” to maintaining law and order, even if protesters take to the streets.
“We are preparing for whatever happens … If there’s communication — and hopefully, there will be — we’ll navigate around it as it comes. … The key here is to communicate. To have some type of communication so that nothing gets out of hand. Nothing gets out of control,” Snelling said.
“If we see protests … we want to make sure that it’s done peacefully without violence, without vandalism just like we did during the DNC.”
Snelling stressed that the “rules of engagement” for National Guard members are “different from that of local law enforcement.”
“Keep it peaceful. Try not to obstruct or become physical with federal agents or members of the National Guard. That’s one way to keep the peace where people can have their voices heard,” he said.