Chicago police release new batch of looting surveillance videos

CHICAGO - A week after a second round of widespread looting, the Chicago Police Department has continued its blitz of releasing surveillance video to the public in hopes of identifying more criminals.

Police announced another seven arrests Monday and so far, more than 40 people have been charged with felonies related to the looting that happened at stores like Big City Optical. Still, police are searching for many others and hope releasing surveillance video will help.

“This could be a very effective way to solve crime...to share these videos and have people call in if they think that they know who these individuals are,” said former federal prosecutor Sharon Fairley, currently of the University of Chicago Law School.

The Chicago Police Department, which launched a looting task force, has continued to push videos to the public in hopes that you might recognize someone and report them.

“When you have these situations in these cases where it's hard to identify individuals who are involved in crime, the public can be a really, really good source of information. We know particularly in the age of social media that the public has a way of circulating these videos and people are able to identify them,” Fairley said.

She says in the digital age, it's sound police-work to get these kinds of videos in front of as many eyeballs as possible.

“The police are under fire right now. People are calling for the defunding of the police, and so they want to show what they're dealing with, day in and day out, by sharing the video of these crimes as they're committed,” Fairley said.

If you do recognize any of the individuals in the videos, you're asked to contact the Area Three Looting Task Force. You can also report tips anonymously by visiting www.cpdtip.com.