City Revamps NATO, G8 Summit Plans for Police, Back Off Fee Increase

Chicago - The Chicago Police Department said it is preparing properly for the G-8 and NATO international summit meetings here in mid-May, but Michael Shields, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police, is ridiculing the pre-summit training his members are getting.

He complains that rank-and-file officers need more than a few hours of training and pamphlets to help them prepare for potential trouble.

Hoping to forestall anything like the violent confrontations that have marred other international summit meetings, the Chicago Police Department has already put hundreds of officers through an eight-hour refresher course in crowd control. Shields, though, ridiculed it as little more than lessons in using a baton to corral troublemakers.

"It's a waste. There's no doubt we need training. We need to know how to deal with these anarchists. But we don't need to learn how to use our baton," Shields said.

He mocked a pocket-sized pamphlet of crowd control formations handed out during training sessions. It shows hand signals for each, including the often-used wedge.

The police department defended the pamphlet.

"It's merely a pocket guide. And so understand that we're putting our officers through a lot of training that's needed for this event," said CPD Chief of International Relations Debra Kirby.

"This is a huge group that is coming into town," Shields said. "And these aren't kids that are peaceful demonstrators. These are professional anarchists that smash windows and destroy property and they fight police officers. And then when they're done fighting police officers, they sue police officers."

CPD said it's not clear how many protesters there will be.

"At this point 10,000 is a place holder. We'll be ready if it's 2,000. We'll be ready if it's 100,000," Kirby said.

By a 45-to-four vote, the City Council approved changes to Chicago's protest rules pushed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The majority overcame any concerns about stifling dissent and agreed the new rules were needed ahead of the summits in may.

Public parks will open two hours later at 6 a.m., and amplified sound will be restricted during overnight hours.

Chicago's police superintendent will have also the authority to deputize out-of-state police.

The president Has declared this a National Special Security Event, which means the Secret Service will take command at all the summit sites, hotels and events.

There will be hundreds, if not thousands, of federal agents in Chicago.