Top cop asks for 350 officers from around state to help secure G-8

Yipes!

Police Supt. Garry McCarthy’s plans for enlisting police security for the G-8/NATO summits this spring is so hush-hush, Sneed hears it’s got statewide security agencies in a swivet.

“It’s almost March and the two summits are in May,” said a top security source. “What’s up?”

“There is no way Illinois agencies outside Cook County have the manpower to help Chicago without the numbers the New York Police Department could provide,” said another source.

McCarthy, who has yet to comment on whether he requested help from New York, “has status with them and they have a force of 30,000, twice the size of Chicago’s police force,” said another security source.

But some plans are under way:

â—†Sneed has learned the Chicago Police Department has requested the help of 350 cops from police departments across the state, according to a recent email dispatched by the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System.

â—†Assistance from Illinois State Police also has been requested, but Sneed hears only about 250 police officers could be spared.

So how many Chicago cops are needed?

â—†It took 4,000 cops to handle the G-8 a few years back in Pittsburgh, which had a police force of less than 1,000 officers.

â—†It took at least 2,000-plus cops from outside the Chicago area to help control crowds on election night 2008, when President-elect Barack Obama addressed an excited crowd at Grant Park.

â—†Response: “We are assessing our needs as we plan, and that includes the use of in-state and out-of-state sworn personnel,” police spokesman Melissa Stratton said Saturday. “We are not limiting candidates to one state or agency. We don’t have the final footprint for the summits so we won’t be able to finalize the number of sworn personnel we will be utilizing from other agencies until closer to the event.”

â—†Meanwhile: Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who is this/close to President Barack Obama, was in Washington midweek to meet with Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano to discuss Chicago’s upcoming double summit and federal help.

I spy . . .

Detroit Red WingTodd Bertuzzi was at Rosebud Steakhouse on Monday, while Chicago Blackhawk Patrick Kane lunched at Rosebud on Rush on Wednesday with his parents. . . . Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock and Atlanta Hawks bigman Zaza Pachulia dined Monday night at Gibsons.

Kate plus 8 . . .

. . . and ex-hubby Jon: Here’s an update on the Gosselin clan: Jon Gosselin is still single. So is Kate. Their eight kids are reportedly OK. There ya go.

â—†One side note: Kate told TV’s Dr. Drew recently: “I’m so lonely. I clean up the house, put the kids to bed and there I sit. Ideally I would find that person. . . . I don’t know if I feel ready for that.”

Ruff stuff . . .

It’s heartbreaking: Vaughn Neita, the owner of A Doggie Business Inc., a dog boarding and grooming business at 1458 N. Western in Wicker Park, was charged with cruelty and neglect in connection with 13 of his own dogs.

â—†Cage rage: Neita, 41, reportedly kept 10 underfed dogs caged in the store’s basement apartment, which was discovered after he handed two dogs and a canine carcass over to Animal Care and Control on Tuesday.

â—†The upshot: One of the dogs, a Boston terrier, was emaciated and had to be put to sleep. A second dog, a poodle, was dead – supposedly attacked and killed by the other two, and the third dog, a chow, was malnourished.

â—†The buckshot: If Neita is convicted, he will lose his license to run his business.

A Kirk report . . .

Former Mayor Richard M. Daley stopped by the office of Sen. Mark Kirk Friday and wished the senator and his staff well. Nice.

It’s the Pitts?

The Brit press is going gaga over a report that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie may be about to tie the knot.

â—†Why: The Daily Mail notes the couple are building what could be a huge reception hall behind the chapel on their $60 million estate in the South of France.

â—†Why again: The couple, who have six children, made a pact they would not tie the knot until gay marriage was legalized in the United States.

Sneedlings . . .

Today’s birthdays: Erykah Badu, 41; Michael Bolton, 59; Fats Domino, 84, and Fritzy Konstantelos, ageless . . . Monday’s birthdays: Chelsea Clinton, 32; Josh Groban, 31; Ralph Nader, 78; Joanne Woodward, 82, and Ted Tetzlaff, ageless and priceless.