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. […]
Update on PGPD Lawsuit
Chicago Justice sued Prince George’s County Police Department (PGPD) on March 12, 2024, to enforce Maryland Public Information Act document requests, pending since 2021. The lawsuit seeks documents and records regarding the Prince George’s Police Department’s participation in and collection, storage, and dissemination of gang affiliation data for the Washington/Baltimore High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program. […]
Analyzing Local Media Coverage of Gun Violence in Chicago Over Memorial Day Weekend
On Tuesday, June 1, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that three people were killed and 34 people were wounded in incidents of gun violence across Chicago over Memorial Day weekend. The article from the Sun-Times read “Chicago saw its least violent Memorial Day weekend in three years, with three people killed and 34 others wounded in […]
Recent email hack shows Mayor Lightfoot is failing at her job
The recent email hack in the Mayor’s office was released to the public and has shown that Lightfoot is failing at her job. We have learned that Mayor Lightfoot does not seem to be on the citizens’ side. Lightfoot has repeatedly released misleading and outright false information to keep the citizens of Chicago in the […]
Analyzing Local Media Coverage of Gun Violence in Chicago Over the Weekend
On Monday, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that 12 people were killed and 42 were injured in shootings across Chicago over the weekend. The headline of the article read “Deadliest weekend of the year in Chicago: 12 killed, 42 wounded in shootings.” CBS Local published a similar article on Monday with the headline “At Least 12 […]
Analyzing Local Media Coverage of Chicago Gun Violence Over the Weekend
On Monday, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that 5 people were killed and 21 were injured by gun violence over the weekend in Chicago. Just as they have in past weekends, the Sun-Times, CBS Local, and Fox Chicago kept track of incidents of gun violence that happened over the course of the weekend. These outlets published […]
Rape Kit Transparency Town Hall
The processing of a rape kit seems like it has always been a problem in Chicago and Illinois. For as far back as we can remember the Illinois State Police Crime Lab has had some sort of backlog in processing rape kits to determine if there is biological evidence that could be used to match […]
Community Commission on Public Safety
The Community Commission on Public Safety (Commission) is one of the campaign promises that Mayor Lightfoot just has not been able to deliver on and seems to do nothing but take wrong step after wrong step trying to implement this legislation. Recently, the Mayor announced she was walking away from the negotiating table with the […]
Analyzing Media Coverage of Chicago Gun Violence Over the Weekend
On Monday, CBS Local reported that at least 25 people were injured and three people were killed by gun violence over the weekend in Chicago. As in past weekends, CBS Local, the Chicago Sun-Times and Fox Chicago kept track of shootings in Chicago over the weekend and published a final tally of incidents on Monday. […]
Clerk Martinez’s Transparency Flip Flop
Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court Iris Martinez pulled what was always expected and flip flopped here campaign pledge to make her office be responsive to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Instead Martinez backed an Illinois Senate bill to make the office responsive to what is called the local records act. […]