Stories by Matt Masterson

Working to reverse a notion that Chicago and Illinois have become false confession capitals in the U.S., Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation Thursday that prohibits the use of deceptive tactics by law enforcement officers when interrogating juveniles.

A former Chicago Public Schools principal who was removed from her post two years ago amid allegations of financial misconduct is now facing federal charges alleging she authorized overtime for her employees and then collected back that cash for her own use.

Caleb Del Toro, 24, will remain in jail after he allegedly wounded an acquaintance and shot at a postal carrier during an incident on the Northwest Side earlier this month.

The school district on Tuesday released its budget proposal for the 2022 fiscal year, which includes $672 million for priority facility investments throughout the city and more than $1 billion in federal funding for student supports.

After meeting with President Joe Biden on Monday, Chicago police Superintendent David Brown reiterated his belief that there must be “real consequences for serious crimes.”

After being chased into his home while out for a walk with his dog, a 22-year-old Chicago man allegedly retrieved a firearm, went back outside and fatally shot a 26-year-old in the head on Friday evening.

According to the Chicago Police Department, 40 people were shot in 33 separate incidents over the weekend, including a man who was gunned down as he left the Cook County Jail on Saturday night.

Three Chicago Police Department officers and the marshal opened fire on the man after he refused to exit a vehicle in the 100 block of South Kilpatrick, according to police Superintendent David Brown.

Chicago’s Office of Inspector General found that while Black candidates make up 37% of the initial officer applicant pool, they comprised just 18% of the candidates who were ultimately invited to the CPD’s Police Academy.

A 28-year-old Chicago man who allegedly shot two federal agents and a Chicago police officer as they were driving Wednesday in an unmarked vehicle in Morgan Park apparently believed the victims were members of a rival street gang, according to federal prosecutors.

A Chicago police officer and two federal agents are expected to survive after they were shot early Wednesday while driving in a vehicle onto the I-57 highway. A person of interest is being questioned in connection with the shooting, officials said.

At least 100 people were shot, including 18 who died, between Friday evening and Monday night in what was so far the bloodiest weekend of 2021, according to Chicago Police Department data.

Keegan Casteel, 32, was allegedly found in possession of a loaded rifle with a laser sight and multiple ammunition magazines inside his 12th-floor Chicago hotel room overlooking Ohio Street Beach during the Fourth of July weekend.

Police officials say additional officers will be on the ground this holiday weekend, including along the lakefront and around entertainment venues. Those officers will be working 12-hour shifts and all days off have been canceled through Monday.

Chicago has recorded 332 homicides through the first six months of 2021, according to the Chicago Police Department. Though that figure is just below the 338 homicides in the first half of 2020, it still marks the second deadliest six-month stretch to start a year since 1999.

“To say I’m hurt is an understatement,” said Jackie Wilson, who spent more than three decades in prison following multiple wrongful convictions for the 1982 murder of two Chicago police officers.

Police Superintendent David Brown on Monday said investigations remain ongoing into a shooting in the South Shore that left one dead and five injured, and another at Marquette Park that left one dead and 10 injured.

Edmond Harris, 18, faces charges of carjacking, discharging a firearm and causing death through the use of a firearm during a crime of violence, stemming from the fatal March shooting of Javier Ramos in Chicago.

Eugene Burns, 19, allegedly acted as the getaway driver in a 2020 gang-related shooting and later “terrorized” another man and his two family members during a home invasion on the West Side earlier this year.

As Janice Jackson’s tenure with Chicago Public Schools draws to an end, a cavalcade of current and former elected officials sung her praises during what was her final Board of Education meeting as CEO.

Hailing the changes as a “major, major improvement,” the Chicago Board of Education has approved revisions to the student code of conduct, which advise school administrators against contacting police in non-emergency incidents in an attempt to eradicate the school-to-prison pipeline.

With less than two months until his federal racketeering trial is set to begin, the R&B star has been transferred out of Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center and into a new detention facility in New York City.

Chicago Public Schools is advising administrators against contacting police in non-emergency situations and will remove “criminalizing” language from its student code of conduct in an effort to help eliminate the school-to-prison pipeline, according to a proposed set of revisions.

A year after the launch of a program aiming to provide 100,000 Chicago Public Schools students with free high-speed internet for four years, city officials have announced plans to extend the program further.

The Illinois House on Wednesday approved legislation that will turn the current seven-member appointed board — the lone appointed school board in the state — into a 21-member body with elections beginning in 2024. Mayor Lori Lightfoot has strongly opposed the bill, calling it “very ill-constructed.”

In the six months since Anjanette Young and Mayor Lori Lightfoot sat down for a face-to-face meeting, little has been done to correct the issues that led to the botched raid at Young’s home in 2019 or address her ongoing lawsuit against the city, her attorney said Wednesday.