Planned protests on Chicago Area Expressways Matt Daeda Jim McKay IDOT District 1 IDOT District 1 Expressway Traffic Emergency Traffic Operations Engineer Patrol Manager 3 events in 2018 • 7/7/18 - I-90/94 Dan Ryan Protest • 8/2/18 – Lake Shore Drive Protest (no IDOT involvement) • 9/3/18 – I-90/94 Kennedy/O’Hare Airport Protest July 7th, 2018 Dan Ryan Protest • Community Activist Father Pfleger from Saint Sabina Catholic Church announced a planned protest on the Dan Ryan Expressway to bring attention violence, crime, joblessness, and poverty plaguing certain neighborhoods in Chicago. • Protest planned to enter the northbound expressway at the 79th St. entrance ramp and march to the 67th St. exit ramp. July 7th, 2018 Dan Ryan Protest • Illinois State Police reached out to IDOT on June 29th requesting IDOT resources to assist with closing ramps and the mainline expressway should the protestors gain assess to the expressway. • Plan at this time was to keep all people off the expressway. • Plan included resources from Illinois Department of Transportation, Illinois State Police District Chicago and District 15, Chicago Police Department, and others. July 7th, 2018 Dan Ryan Protest • Internal IDOT meeting on 7/3/18 to discuss IDOT’s response to this event • IDOT prepared to close both directions of the expressway, northbound lanes at the I-57 and I-94 merge, and southbound lanes at 63rd St. • 8 Maintenance trucks to close the southbound lanes • 7 Maintenance trucks to close the northbound lanes • Other vehicles as needed to close various entrance ramps Protest Location Northbound Closure Southbound Closure July 7th, 2018 Dan Ryan Protest • Plan changed • Anticipated 2,000 protestors with 600 law enforcement officers to keep protestors off the highway. • Fear is that the protestors would disperse and enter the highway at other locations. Impossible to control the situation and ensure a safe environment for motorists, protestors, and responding personnel. • Resolution was to provide the protestors access to the highway, but keep them separated from the motoring public by providing a wall of vehicles and law enforcement. Traffic Traffic Vehicle Wall/Law Enforcement Protestors Protestors Protestors July 7th, 2018 Dan Ryan Protest • 9:00AM – Vehicle barrier wall deployed and in place by 10AM • 10:00AM – Protestors entered the highway • 10:40AM – Protestors began trying to push their way through the police units located in lane 3. • 11:30AM – ISP Incident Commander ordered the expressway closed to ensure public safety for the protestors, motoring public, and responding agencies. July 7th, 2018 Dan Ryan Protest • Agency Coordination • Illinois State Police (ISP) acted as lead agency • ISP, Illinois Department of Transportation, and Illinois Tollway had numerous calls coordinating efforts and assigning crews and assets consisting of executive leadership on down to shift supervisors. • Numerous agencies involved including ISP, IDOT, Illinois Tollway, Illinois Department of Corrections, Chicago Police Department, Chicago Fire Department, Cook County Sheriff, Salvation Army, and others. After Action Observations and Report • ISP Estimated 1,500 protestors with approximately 400 law enforcement on scene. • Plan and operation were successful with regard to the stated goals and objectives (Protect the health and welfare of the citizens of Illinois) • No violence at protest. No injuries, no arrests, 1 minor crash. • State’s response to the event was very impressive per media. • Protestors were allowed to exercise their first amendment rights. After Action Observations and Report • Communications • Not all agencies were able to monitor each others communications or communicate with each other during the event. Need to include all participating agencies in the planning process with communications experts from each agency to ensure available and required resources are deployed and plan objectives are understood by all. After Action Observations and Report • The final version of the plan was not disseminated in time for the appropriate field personnel to review and prepare field staff. • Provide the incident action plan to command, general staff, and supervisory levels to have basic knowledge of the incident objectives and overall assignment for each individual unit involved. • Partner agencies need to have a physical presence in the command post to react quickly to changing dynamics. • Operational briefing prior to the incident with supervisors and team leaders to discuss assignments for field personnel would have been helpful to avoid confusion at the event. After Action Observations and Report • Dedicated resources were unavailable on the day of the event • Some agencies could not provide promised resources on the day of the event. Left areas understaffed • The vehicle wall was not properly assembled or deployed. • An error in the length of a vehicle was made that left the vehicle wall short. • Lead vehicles traveled past the stopping point leaving a lack of resources at the end. • Rear guard, or taper vehicles were not properly positioned to form the taper at the start of the closure. Left a weak point where motorists could encroach into the protest area. After Action Observations and Report • When the order was given to shut down the roadway, IDOT, Tollway, and other vehicle barricade vehicles were relocated to the left shoulder of the highway directly adjacent to the CTA tracks with the protestors on the right. This left personnel inside the vehicles with no escape route should the event have turned violent. • Shut down order was made quickly and used vehicles in the barricade to close the highway at the event location, and not vehicles prepositioned at points where motorists could be directed away from the event. Left motorists trapped on the highway or directed onto surface streets into event onlookers. Lake Shore Drive Protest • Illinois Department of Transportation not involved. • Reverend Livingston led effort and coordinated event • Group allowed to close a section of Lake Shore Drive with Chicago Police Department assistance Kennedy Expressway/O’Hare Labor Day Protest • Reverend Livingston’s Second Protest. • Goal to close the Kennedy Expressway and impact operations at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Kennedy Expressway/O’Hare Labor Day Protest • Meeting began on 8/20 when ISP and IDOT were made aware of the planned event. • ISP activated the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System (ILEAS), the law enforcement mutual aid system, to request assistance from other agencies to respond to this event. • Communications plan prepared and disseminated days before the event. On Air tests completed to verify operations. • Partner agency leadership positioned in command post to relay information and make adjustments as needed. Kennedy Expressway/O’Hare Labor Day Protest • Goal established to not let protestors enter the highway. • ISP assigned 134 troopers to the event with assistance from Chicago, Des Plaines, Rosemont, and Bensenville Police Departments. • IDOT and Tollway deployed resources to shut down the highway in the event protestors gained access to the highway. Kennedy Expressway/O’Hare Labor Day Protest • Much smaller event. • Estimated 50 protestors at event • One entrance ramp was closed where protestors and law enforcement assembled. • 12 arrested peacefully when they attempted to enter the highway. IDOT’s response • Responded prior to both events by cleaning debris and mowing the ROW in the areas of the events. Purpose was to eliminate hiding places and potential projectiles that could be thrown by protestors. • Prepositioned resources to close highways, and clean up any debris or obstacles left after the event. • Deployed portable surveillance cameras to monitor situation. Positioned ISP personnel in communications center to monitor surveillance cameras. Disconnected camera internet feed during the events. Questions .