Police Settlement Transparency and Accountability (PSTA) Ordinance
The PSTA (Police Settlement Transparency and Accountability) Ordinance will lift the veil of secrecy from police misconduct litigation in Chicago. With the PSTA, we have a chance to bring transparency, democratic oversight, and justice to the city’s police accountability system. If we pass this reform, Chicago will set the standard for police accountability for cities […]
CJP’s Policy Recommendations For Accountability and Transparency
Overview: A component of our efforts at the Chicago Justice Project is monitoring and analyzing policy and legislative trends on public safety in Chicago. Our Legislative Agenda for Accountability and Transparency aims to bring about a more just, community-driven, and evidence-based policing and police accountability system in Chicago. A .pdf of the report is attached […]
Data Brief: Rape Kit Backlog – What We Do and Don’t Know
The first step to solving the rape kit backlog crisis is to understand the actual extent of the problem. Unfortunately, decades of badly-kept records, unclear legislation, and a lack of transparency has made discerning the exact amount of “backlogged” kits in the state of Illinois difficult. In 2015, the Accountability Project, an initiative by the […]
Cook County State’s Attorney Breaks Settlement Agreement and Forces Lawsuit!
Despite commitments to work collaboratively from senior officials within Kim Foxx’s Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office our efforts have instead been stonewalled at every turn. Just like the typical Cook County politician she is not interested in real transparency and true oversight. Our previous lawsuit resulted in a settlement in 2017 in which Foxx’s […]
Media Alert: Kim Foxx claims transparency but her record says otherwise
The Chicago Justice Project has been in litigation and fighting for open access to the state’s attorney’s crimes database since 2010. A DECADE! Yet today, Kim Foxx stood in front of television news cameras, journalists and all of cook county to say this: “we make our data – and i will give it to you […]
Miraculous CPD Data Production
The CPD was able to produce a miraculous data set to CJP as part of our ongoing lawsuit that they told us in writing they did not possess. This directly contradicted what CJP learned from sources within the CPD years ago so we sued to make sure what they were telling us in writing […]
Police Settlement Transparency and Accountability Ordinance
This innovative legislation lifts the veil of secrecy on police misconduct litigation settlements and judgments while creating an entirely new regiment of responsibility for the City Council and the police accountability system in Chicago. Upon passing this legislation will be the best practice cities around the country emulate. Chicago’s communities deserve nothing less. The Police […]
Andrea Zopp could be added to The Chicago Police Board by Friday Nov. 17
Andrea Zopp is set to be named the newest member of the Chicago Police Board on Friday, pending a City Council meeting. The document obtained by The Chicago Justice Project on Wednesday appears to confirm a Nov. 17 meeting at 9:45 a.m. The meeting will take place in Room 201A, second floor of City Hall. […]
Controversy surrounds COPA: Mayor Emanuel shirks accountability, taking matters into his own hands
CHICAGO — Just months after its inception, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) is already severely handicapped. With a budget that is over $1 million short, a chief administrator vacancy, and a huge backlog of cases, COPA is facing an uphill battle. Mayor Rahm Emanuel named 18 individuals to be added to the search […]
Convicted In Cook Release!
This site analyzes 5 years of conviction data from the Circuit Court of Cook County. We are proud to announce the release of Convicted In Cook! This site was created in partnership with the Smart Chicago Collaborative and FreeGeek Chicago. This site offers the first of its kind deep dive into five years of conviction […]