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Chicago police report drop in weekend violence, more patrols

CHICAGO (AP) - Six hundred more police officers patrolled five violent Chicago police districts over the weekend following an alarming number of shootings a week earlier.

Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said Monday that extra patrol officers will continue to be deployed "until we're comfortable things are stabilized."

Authorities are eager to prevent a repeat of the Aug. 3- 5 weekend that left at least 71 people shot, 12 of them fatally. Authorities say about 35 people were shot during the past weekend, and that none died.

Johnson cautioned, however, that crime is cyclical and it's never clear "when this stuff is gonna pop."

He says officers paid particular attention to large gatherings in the five districts that accounted for more than half of shootings a week earlier.

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