The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued an alert to the police in Chicago based on their intelligence. This alert says that around three dozen street gangs in the city have formed a deadly pact among themselves. According to this pact, members of these gangs are to shoot at any police officer they see with his gun drawn at anyone.
The federal agency said that this information is based on "a contact whose reporting is limited and whose reliability cannot be determined." In other words, there is no certainty as to whether such an agreement has indeed been struck. The wording suggests that this information has been attained through an informer working inside one of these gangs.
FBI's alert
The intelligence report which features this information was released to the local law-enforcement agencies on August 26, according to a local affiliate of ABC. If true, this pact puts the life of the cops on the street in great danger.
The report says that "members of these gang factions have been actively searching for, and filming, police officers in the performance of their official duties. The purpose of which is to catch on film an officer drawing his/her weapon on any subject and the subsequent 'shoot-on-sight' of said officer, in order to garner national media attention."
This pact may be connected to the unrest in the country since the killing of George Floyd that triggered massive protests across the United States. Since many of these gangs contain people from the African-American community, there may be even greater anger against the cops than usual.
Violent year
Chicago has already witnessed a significant spike in incidents of shooting. The past weekend witnessed 54 people getting shot, out of which 10 succumbed to their injuries. Among those who suffered bullet wounds, there were two local cops. These two officers were attacked at around 2:30 in the morning at a traffic stop.
Overall, 51 policemen have been either shot or shot at this year in the Windy City. As the superintendent of the Chicago Police Department said, this in itself should cause concern.
"I think it's bigger than a suggestion. I think 51 officers being shot at or shot in one year, I think that quadruples any previous year in Chicago's history. So, I think it's more than a suggestion that people are seeking to do harm to cops," Superintendent David Brown told the media.
