Snelling vowed to rebuild trust between Chicagoans and the Police Department, which is struggling to reduce crime and implement court-ordered reforms designed to ensure officers no longer routinely violate the constitutional rights of Black and Latino Chicagoans.
Crime & Law
The unanimous vote by the interim Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability caps an effort that began in 2017 to stop the Chicago Police Department from using databases to track Chicagoans they believe to be in a gang.
The verdict came after a short trial for Peter Navarro, who served as a White House trade adviser under President Donald Trump and later promoted the Republican’s baseless claims of mass voter fraud in the 2020 election he lost.
Public trust in the court is at a 50-year low following a series of divisive rulings, including the overturning of Roe v. Wade federal abortion protections last year, and published reports about the justices’ undisclosed paid trips and other ethical concerns.
It is unclear what prompted the decision to reconsider the proposed settlement after the Chicago City Council rejected it in July on a vote of 22-26.
During an April 2022 court hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu called Solis one of the most significant government informants and witnesses of the last several decades. But prosecutors do not plan to call him during the trial of former Ald. Ed Burke, set to start Nov. 6.
“Pandemic relief fraud by CPS employees causes significant reputational harm to CPS and diminishes trust in the school district,” The Office of Inspector General wrote in the report.
Inspector General Deborah Witzburg said city officials and police brass are “ill-equipped to evaluate and improve response times, simply because, more often than not, we have no information on when the police arrive to respond to an emergency.”
Monthly CPD data published Tuesday shows that the city has recorded 418 homicides, 1,677 shootings and 1,988 shooting victims in 2023 through the end of August. Each of those totals is the fewest through the first eight months of a year since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to preliminary Chicago Police Department data, 39 people were shot in 33 separate shooting incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Monday. In addition to the six people who were fatally shot, a seventh person died of blunt force trauma.
Melvin Jordan, 47, was arrested and charged this week with two counts each of attempted murder, aggravated kidnapping and unlawful restraint, along with a single count of unlawful use of a weapon.
White Sox Owner Jerry Reinsdorf Says He Doesn’t See How Shooting Could Have Occurred Inside Ballpark
Two women were injured in a shooting during the team’s 12-4 loss to Oakland last week. Chicago police are investigating what happened, including whether the gun was fired inside or outside of the facility.
Ramon Sumerlin, 41, is charged with child endangerment resulting in death and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon stemming from the Aug. 15 shooting of Jacari Brown.
The shooting happened at around 9 p.m. Wednesday, police said in a news release, noting that 29 shots were fired.
Chicago is the center of attention when it comes to talking about crime data in a national context. Experts caution that interpreting numbers without examining the underlying influences can lead to misunderstandings.
Details about the incident remain scarce, days after a 42-year-old woman was shot in the leg and a 26-year-old woman suffered a graze wound to the abdomen, which occurred in the fourth inning of the Sox’s Friday game against the Oakland Athletics.
