Public Safety

  • February City Council debate: how to lose a winner

    3 March 2020

    In an interview by Ben Joravsky with Dave Glowacz on the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky Show, Dave and Ben listened to audio clips from the Chicago City Council's February, 2020 meeting—including a rich aldermanic debate on a city lawsuit settlement.

  • Chicagoans advise and chastise Lightfoot at budget town halls

    13 October 2019

    Audio of Chicagoans who gave Mayor Lori Lightfoot their advice and pleas at budget town halls that took place in September and October of 2019.

  • Ask Mr Bike: Why Chicagoans are targeted for biking while black

    5 August 2018

    In an interview by Ben Joravsky with Dave Glowacz on WCPT-AM's Ben Joravsky Show, Ben asks Mr Bike about Chicagoans in black areas that have gotten bicycling tickets in far greater numbers than those in white areas, and more.

  • Mr Bike: Trains, planes, and cyclist pains

    8 May 2018

    In an interview by Ben Joravsky with Dave Glowacz on WCPT-AM's Ben Joravsky Show, Mr Bike talks about unpredictable and unlawful biker behavior, and more.

  • Police board fires cop who lied about drunken suicide threat

    1 March 2018

    At its February, 2018 meeting, the Chicago Police Board dismissed an officer who drunkenly threatened to kill himself with a gun, then lied to investigators.

  • Chicago Police Dept. merit promotions list identifies sponsors

    10 February 2017

    The Chicago Police Department released a list of officers promoted since 2006 by way of merit selection—identifying the sponsor of each promotee.

  • Reporter: 95 percent of most shootings unsolved

    13 October 2016

    In five percent or less of non-fatal shootings, Chicago Police hold no one accountable, says a Sun-Times reporter.

  • Justice Dept. holds meetings on police—but few know

    22 June 2016

    The U.S. Dept. of Justice is holding little-advertised public forums to get citizens' input on their encounters with Chicago police.

  • Rahm cops to 'owning' McDonald fiasco—or does he?

    28 December 2015

    Interview in which the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky looks at aldermen's assertion that the Emanuel administration misled them about the McDonald shooting, and more.

  • Wanted: police chief—with no binding

    11 December 2015

    The Chicago Police Board is seeking applicants for the position of police superintendent, to replace the recently fired Garry McCarthy. Applicants should be adept at "avoiding excessive force, corruption, verbal abuse or other misconduct."

  • With police, Emanuel already knows what to fix and how

    10 December 2015

    Mayor Rahm Emanuel already has in-depth recommendations about how to reform policing in Chicago—and reportedly has sat on them for a year.

  • Police spying on protesters uncovered—sort of

    25 March 2015

    Interview with the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky on what citizens can do when government won't release public records, and more.

  • Justice group reckons checkered records

    23 January 2015

    Interview with the Chicago Justice Project's Tracy Siska about "Convicted in Cook," an analysis of Cook County conviction data.

  • Law firm tells how to curb wayward police, cops call bullshit

    13 January 2015

    Just before Christmas of 2014, the city of Chicago released a report on police misconduct−how to prevent it, that is.

    The report was prepared by the law firm Schiff Hardin and the management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, both based in Chicago.

    Although the firms say they provided the report at no cost, the city has paid Schiff Hardin (also known as Schiff Hardin & Waite) about $1.2 million for various services since 2010. Schiff Hardin has helped defend the city against lawsuits brought by citizens who have claimed police misconduct.

    To head off misconduct, the Schiff Hardin report recommends that Chicago Police Department:

    • Adopt discipline guidelines, where few or none exist today.
    • Fire any officer engaging in a “code of silence.”
    • Include training as a discipline option.
    • Make supervisors more directly responsible for officer conduct.
    • Look into officer-worn cameras.

    To handle misconduct after it happens, the report's authors say that:

    • Misconduct investigations should wrap up within two years.
    • Various investigative bodies should use the same case management system.
    • Investigators should have a community advisory board (which, the authors later say, has already been created).
    • To get accused officers to cooperate with investigations, investigators should "plea bargain" with them.
    • The city should increase the number of investigators.
    • Officers should have less opportunity to appeal discipline decisions to the police board.

    In response, officers blasted the report via the termagant Second City Cop blog. Blog posters said that:

    • The annual number of citizen complaints has decreased, so why boost the number of investigators−especially when detectives and evidence technicians are in short supply?
    • The report's authors are a "bunch of assholes" for proposing to restrict the number of "false accusers" that are referred for prosecution. Noting that a false accuser can be charged with a felony, a blogger calls this idea "fucking brilliant."
    • Though former top cop Jody Weiss's policy was to "fuck [officers] every chance you get," officers credit Weiss with fighting citizen lawsuits in court to cut down on frivolous complaints. According to the blog, the Emanuel administration has done a complete 180: it's gone back to settling lawsuits. It did this "in order to enrich connected [law] firms," which the city often hires to defend accused officers.
    • The department can cut down on misconduct-related lawsuits by firing "untouchable" clouted cops who "cost millions" in legal fees. Examples of these "clout babies," says the blog, can be found in daily headlines: "sergeants raping women . . . sergeants firing guns at suburban cops . . . detectives shoplifting . . . commanders sticking guns in people's mouths...things like that."


  • Preckwinkle takes on detention

    19 February 2014

    Cook County board president Tony Preckwinkle is poised to seize a job that's done by the man who wears the sheriff's star: responsibility for putting jail detainees on electronic monitoring.

  • Inspector General to police: replace badges with civilians

    1 February 2013

    The Chicago's Inspector General's Office issued a report recommending that the Chicago Police Department use civilians to staff hundreds of positions currently held by police officers—saving up to $16.6 million per year.

  • The Grow House Next Door

    9 August 2012

    Interview with the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky on the two forms of justice and more.

  • The Politics of Pot

    1 December 2011

    Interview with the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky on comparing Mayor Emanuel's control of the marijuana issue with Mayor Daley's control of a smoking ban, and more.

  • The Grass Gap

    7 July 2011

    Interview with the Chicago Reader's Ben Joravsky on the double standard that marijuana laws reinforce, and more.

  • Police league: new top cop part of discrimination suit

    19 May 2011

    Earlier this week, on Cliff Kelley's radio show on WVON, the head of the African American Police League wondered how well Mayor Emanuel vetted Garry McCarthy, Emanuel's pick for Chicago police superintendent. 

    Pat Hill, executive director of the league, said that the National Latino Officers Association successfully sued McCarthy and other police officials for discrimination when McCarthy served as deputy commissioner in New York City's police department.

    Further, the Latino officers opposed McCarthy's appointment to head the Newark police.

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