“I hope this doesn’t become a territorial issue. I hope this doesn’t become an ego issue,” Fritchey said. “This isn’t about public relationsor politics. This is about reclaiming our communities.”

While the National Guard has been deployed in other states to prevent violence related to specific events and protest, the Chicago legislators said they are unaware of guardsmen being deployed to assist with general urban unrest.

“It is the duty of the governor to deploy such force as he deems necessary in order to suppress individuals … committing violence in violation of our laws,” Ford said.

Weis today said that if Daley wants the guardsmen to assist the Chicago police, he’d consider agreeing to it. But he said their assistance is not a good idea because they operate under different rules than his officers.

Weis has said his new focus on identifying crime hot spots would prevent outbreaks of violence, like the one nearly two weeks ago that left seven people dead and 18 wounded. His plan also creates a 100-person citywide mobile force made up of selected and volunteer police personnel that is dispatched based on gathered intelligence.

Fritchey said today that if the guardsmen were to assist his officers, they could possibly comprise or contribute to the100-person mobile force.

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