CJP’s ShotSpotter Transparency & Research Campaign
For two decades, police departments across the United States have relied on ShotSpotter, an acoustic gunshot‑detection system whose capabilities, accuracy, and internal processes have been shielded from public scrutiny. Despite being marketed as a precision tool for reducing gun violence, almost everything about how ShotSpotter works, and how police use it, has been kept secret. […]
ShotSpotter Open Records Requests
CJP’s ShotSpotter Transparency & Research Campaign is a nationwide effort to hold police departments and technology vendors accountable for the use of ShotSpotter’s gunshot‑detection surveillance system. By filing public‑records requests with more than 100 police agencies across the country, this campaign seeks to uncover the truth about how ShotSpotter is deployed, what it actually accomplishes, […]
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For two decades, police departments across the United States have relied on ShotSpotter, an acoustic gunshot‑detection system whose capabilities, accuracy, and internal processes have been shielded from public scrutiny. Despite being marketed as a precision tool for reducing gun violence, almost everything about how ShotSpotter works, and how police use it, has been kept secret. […]
CPD Litigation Data FOIA
The City of Chicago has paid out nearly $300 million in 2025 alone for civil judgments & settlements related to litigation involving the Chicago Police Department. A 2022 report by the City’s Inspector General detailed massive gaps in the data collected by the City’s Law Department, Office of Risk Management, and the CPD itself. On […]
Breaking Chicago’s Cycle of Exploiting Violence
The recent push to send federal agents to Chicago under the guise of combating violence is not an isolated event; it is part of a decades-long cycle of exploiting violence for political and financial gain. Chicago’s politicians, justice system leaders, and media have all played a role in perpetuating this cycle, often prioritizing power and […]
Do Not Call List FOIA Requests
Today, the Chicago Justice Project filed several requests under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (SAO) seeking records related to the Do Not Call List. This is a list of officers whom the SAO has deemed to have credibility issues to such a degree that the office will […]
Justice Data Withheld: CJP Takes IDOC Battle to Appellate Court
At the Chicago Justice Project, we believe that transparency is the foundation of accountability. When public institutions operate in the dark, communities suffer and reform becomes impossible. That’s why we took the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) to court. In July 2020, we submitted 24 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to IDOC, seeking data […]
South Bend Police Department (SBPD) Open Records Requests
On Friday, August 1, CJP expanded our transparency work to South Bend, Indiana—specifically focusing on the South Bend Police Department (SBPD). As part of our ongoing commitment to government accountability, we submitted a series of open records requests under the Indiana Access to Public Records Act to help shine a light on the inner workings […]
Request to Chicago OIG: Audit CPD FOIA Practices
On Tuesday, CJP filed a request with the Office of the Inspector General for the City of Chicago, requesting that their office audit the Chicago Police Department (CPD) to determine if the CPD’s response to requests under Illinois’ Freedom of Information Act complies with the law. We also requested that the OIG pay special attention […]
What does the science say about ShotSpotter?
In a first-of-its-kind independent analysis of the effectiveness of ShotSpotter, the science says the technology does not lead to more arrests and convictions for gun crimes and does not reduce these crimes in the areas where it is deployed. The study examined the impact of ShotSpotter in Chicago and Kansas City. To understand the science […]