Chicago police boss still confident in convention security plan here after Trump shooting

Days after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, Chicago Police Department leadership once again stressed the city’s preparedness for next month’s Democratic National Convention.

The security measures CPD plans to take are constantly evolving, top leaders said.

“I’ve said this over and over again: We have been preparing for this DNC since we found out that were going to be a host city,” Superintendent Larry Snelling said during a Monday news conference at CPD headquarters. “And all of the incidents that could occur, we’re accounting for those things and we’re making sure that we’re training around those things.”

Snelling was quick to note that the attempt on Trump’s life last weekend occurred at an outdoor rally, not an indoor venue such as those to be featured during the DNC.

Trump suffered a graze wound to the ear when a 20-year-old gunman fired from a rooftop with a rifle at Trump’s campaign event Saturday. The main DNC event in Chicago will be held in the United Center, an enclosed arena similar to the venue where the Republican National Convention is now underway in Milwaukee.

“Now, can we train for every single possible thing that could absolutely happen? No, but what I will tell you is those things that we know, those things that are predictable, they’re also preventable,” Snelling said.

“Our relationship with the Secret Service has been stellar. It’s been 100% professional. Our communication is right on point,” Snelling added. “I can tell you the contact and the collaboration between not only the Secret Service but all of our federal partners around the planning of the DNC has been great.”

Kimberly Cheatle, director of the Secret Service, struck a similar tone during a visit to Chicago last month to highlight the agency’s own DNC preparedness.

“We’ve got a tremendous working relationship with Chicago police, as well as a multitude of other agencies, both local and federal, that will be contributing to this whole-of-government approach that we’re taking” with the DNC, Cheatle said during a news conference last month in Chicago.

The Secret Service will be in charge of security at the United Center and McCormick Place, where the other DNC events will be held.

The Pennsylvania gunman’s ability to access a nearby rooftop has raised questions about how that event was planned for and to what degree a security lapse came into play. Cheatle on Monday issued a statement saying she was confident in her agency’s next major event responsibility in Milwaukee.

Cheatle, in the statement, said she has been “coordinating with the protective detail for former President Trump and have briefed President Biden on the details of the incident,” adding, “The Secret Service is working with all involved Federal, state and local agencies to understand what happened, how it happened, and how we can prevent an incident like this from ever taking place again.”

In Chicago, the Police Department will retain its jurisdiction across the city and be tasked with handling the expected protests along with the department’s day-to-day responsibilities. Other law enforcement agencies — FBI, ATF, Illinois State Police, Cook County sheriff’s police — will also assist.

Along with the DNC, the department also faces the annual uptick in violence that Chicago sees each summer. More than 100 people were shot in the city during the Fourth of July holiday weekend, and the city recorded 20 fatalities, though shooting levels are down so far this year compared to 2023, records show.

Snelling said Monday that he spoke with the chief of police in Milwaukee just a day earlier, and the two have been in steady contact as each city prepared for its convention.