(Bloomberg) -- Chicago is increasing the number of police officers on duty by 1,200 from Thursday through the end of the July 4 holiday weekend, a historically high-crime period, to prevent any outbreaks of violence and large gatherings that could spread Covid-19.
The step comes amid a rise in crime in the nation's third-most-populous city. Last month, Chicago recorded 404 shooting incidents through June 28, nearly double the same period last year, and 84 murders, an 83% increase from the same period in 2019, according to police data.
“Everybody here knows we have a long way to go, but we have to get there,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a press conference Thursday. Lightfoot said she and other city officials understand “the urgency of this moment.”
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The public safety crisis comes as thousands of activists nationwide, including in Chicago, call for defunding of police departments in the wake of George Floyd's killing in Minneapolis in May.
Chicago's escalating gun violence demonstrates the challenges public officials have in balancing the need to address the police killings of black men with the obligation to address crime.
While Lightfoot, who is Black, has announced a community working group to review and revise the city's police department's use-of-force policy, she's resisted calls to defund the police and said instead a more holistic approach to allocating resource is needed.
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