Chicago has a reputation as the City of Big Shoulders. For rough-and-tumble politics. And for having a lot of crime, despite strict gun laws. But what are those laws? WTTW News explains.

People marched the streets in Bronzeville to demand that elected officials and law enforcement authorities do more to resolve missing persons and murder cases. Black girls and women are overrepresented in missing persons cases in Chicago, according to reports.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly ruled there was enough evidence for a jury to conclude “that the city had a custom or policy of condoning racial harassment and discrimination at (the Water Department) as well as inaction in the face of a risk of potential constitutional violations.”

The Chicago Police Department held an open training session at McCormick Place, where police demonstrated for media the different measures and strategies the department is planning to deploy during the August convention.

Ronald “Ronnieman” Johnson, 25, was shot and killed by Officer George Hernandez in the early morning hours of Oct. 12, 2014, near 53rd Street and King Drive.

With rising overtime costing the city more each year, records show the Chicago Police Department paid a high price for overtime for shifts meant to curb violence before ending its strategic deployment initiative. The city did not explain how it judged the effectiveness of the plan it recently ended.

Evanston’s program is aimed at addressing housing discrimination and segregation that took place in the northern suburb from 1919 to 1969.

“There’s no silver bullet here,” study author David Johnson said. “But there is some really solid evidence that the work that schools are doing matters. And I think that’s really exciting and important.”

A Sangamon County judge blocked the Illinois State Board of Elections from enforcing a new law that would have prevented certain General Assembly candidates who didn’t run in the March primary from getting on the November ballot. The move doesn’t void the bill in its entirety, but rather blocks it only for this year’s general election for the 14 named plaintiffs in the case.

After the three-hour hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Kendall declined to issue a ruling immediately, instead promising a written order “shortly.”

“I am heartened by the progress CPD has made,” Inspector General Deborah Witzburg said. “I think Chicagoans should be heartened. I think there are persistent concerns. I think there is time to address them.”

The Chicago Police Department has fully met just 7% of the consent decree’s requirements, according to the most recent report by the team monitoring CPD’s progress.

Benard McKinley is preparing to begin law school at Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law. He graduated from college while serving 22 years in prison for a crime he committed when he was 16 years old. 

Chicago police officials on Tuesday announced first-degree murder and armed robbery charges against 32-year-old Divonte Calhoun and Justin Redmond, 41, nearly a month after the killing of 24-year-old Zet Rodriguez.

“This is abuse that occurred at the hands of those who were hired to protect and educate the residents of these facilities,” attorney Todd Mathews said Monday. “Instead, they created a horrific environment and performed unspeakable acts on these survivors.”

Through the end of May, there have been 204 homicides and 979 shootings, both of which are the lowest totals for any year in Chicago since 2019.