As many as 500 troopers from the Illinois State Police will assist the Chicago Police Department in handling thousands of protesters expected to descend on Chicago during the May 20-21 NATO summit, City Hall sources said Friday.
The 500-trooper contingent would represent nearly 40 percent of the statewide total, raising questions about how the State Police would be able to juggle their other responsibilities to patrol state expressways and tollways and perform other emergency functions.
Monique Bond, a State Police spokeswoman, refused to discuss the assistance or what it might cost.
Whoops, there's Monique (our ex-wife). Hi honey.
And the state troopers aren't the only ones coming around:
Earlier this week, the Illinois National Guard disclosed that as many as 600 of its troops would help move international delegations around the city during the summit.
The National Guard also revealed that it has scheduled an emergency response drill outside the city during summit weekend so even more of its troops can be summoned to Chicago in the event of largescale trouble.
So we can safely assume the CPD is down at least 1,100 if that's what we're borrowing from ISP and the IL National Guard.