Chicago’s Anti-Violence Efforts Overblown
On today’s pod we take a look at recent reporting by the Better Government Association that focuses on the city’s Anti-violence efforts and the inability of leadership to detail specific steps they have taken to reduce gun violence. This inability to detail their anti-violence efforts hasn’t stopped leadership from claiming those mysterious efforts have had […]
Did Youth Drive Crime Increase in 2020?
As crime & violence increased in many cities in America as the pandemic took hold in 2020 the media coalesced around a narrative that the increase was driven mostly by an increase in youth offending. This narrative about youth offending seemed to fit the circumstances as the pandemic got worse schools shut down and there […]
Discussion with Inspector General Witzburg
Today we feature a discussion with newly appointed Chicago Inspector General Deborah Witzburg. Witzburg previously held a variety of positions within the office including most recently being the Deputy Inspector General for Public Safety. It is in this role she was able to drive the activities of the office and have the office start actually […]
Campaign to Close IL Juvenile Youth Centers
Today we focus on the work of the Final 5 Campaign as they push to force the closure of Illinois’ juvenile youth centers. According to the Campaign’s website 10 years ago the centers across the state used to house as many as 1,200 youths in their 10 facilities. The reductions in the number of youths […]
FOIA: Gang Affiliation Data from DC Metropolitan Police Department
This request submitted to the Metropolitan Police Department on Sept 22, 2021 is part of CJP’s much larger effort to track gang affiliation data collection and distribution in the District of Columbia, throughout the state of Maryland, and on the federal level. It is vitally important to shed light on the justice system’s practices around […]
Gang Affiliation Data Project
CJP has undertaken a broad campaign of using open records laws to pry open data and records pertaining to the collection and distribution of gang affiliation data in D.C., throughout the state of Maryland, and on the federal level. Gang databases are over-inclusive, inaccurate, and disparate in impact. Entry into these gang databases does not […]
Cohen & Smith Richards on Ticketing in Schools
A recent investigation by Pro Publica and the Chicago Tribune revealed that many schools within Illinois are ticketing students for rather common misbehavior in schools. Much of the ticketing either skirts state law or outright breaks it as schools are not allowed to ticket students and in 2019 the state outlawed completely the practice of […]
Discussing Park District Sex Abuse Scandal with Dan Mihalopoulos
The Chicago Park District sex scandal should have been an opportunity for leadership in Chicago to rise to the occasion to protect victims from being re-victimized and from others from not being victimized at all. Instead, Chicago got exactly what most Chicagoans would expect. Political leadership at the Park District and at city hall chose […]
Justice Discussion With Alderperson Michael Rodriguez
On the show today we feature a discussion with 22nd Ward Alderperson Michael Rodriguez on the topic of criminal justice in Chicago. Our wide ranging discussion cover topics from examining Mayor Lightfoot’s record on police reform, the Mayor’s inability to bring the George Floyd protestors to the table, and the recent move by city officials […]
Disinformation on Crime and Violence Doesn’t Serve Chicagoans’ Interests
The amount of disinformation coming from public officials and police leaders on the subject of crime and violence in Chicago is causing catastrophic harm to our public discussion on how the city should respond. Spreading disinformation has been a reality in Chicago for decades, but Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Superintendent David Brown, and Fraternal Order of […]