Chicago police to increase security at gang funerals - KMSP-TV

Rahm Emanuel announced Wednesday that gang funerals in Chicago will start to be treated like "gang events," including increased police presence, pat-downs, and searches outside of funeral homes and churches.

"Where there's a gang funeral — given that they have shown no respect for a place of worship — we're gonna change how they're gonna operate. The Police Department is gonna change the way they deal with gang funerals," the mayor said.

This comes after 21-year-old Sherman Miller was shot outside St. Columbanus Catholic Church at a funeral for another man on November 26th.

"The police saw that and they did something that they haven't done before which caught everybody off guard and they went in and started searching people, handcuffing people, it was a totally different scene," said Pastor Corey Brooks who presided over Miller's funeral.

He agrees that when gang bangers can't respect a house of worship, police have to do something. The mayor says officers will take a new approach.

"The police are going to treat gang funerals, as a gang event and people will be appropriately checked, patted down," Rahm said.

After rapper Little JoJo was gunned down in September, police had a heavy presence at his funeral. While monitoring YouTube as they often do, detective found a video they say shows Sherman Miller in the funeral procession talking with a friend about all the police while sitting in the backseat with a gun in his hand.

Pastor Brooks wonders about how gangs might react to pat-downs at funerals.

" I'm pretty sure that the anger is going to be heightened a little bit (with cops at funerals) hopefully though, if what they're trying to do works, then maybe we'll see a decline in that type of thing happening," says Brooks.