Stories by Matt Masterson

Nearly a dozen Chicago police districts this year saw their lowest number of recorded robberies since 2000 as the citywide robbery rate fell by 19 percent year-over-year.

The holiday travel season is officially underway, but if you’re planning to leave the Windy City, it might be best to hit the road sooner rather than later.

A verdict was expected Wednesday in the bench trial of three Chicago police officers charged with conspiring to cover up details of the fatal 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald. The defendants will instead learn their fate in January, just days before Jason Van Dyke is scheduled to be sentenced.

Community organizers have helped raise thousands of dollars for the families of two Chicago police officers who were struck and killed by a Metra train in an accident Monday night on the Far South Side.

A verdict was expected Wednesday in the trial of three Chicago police officers accused of conspiring to cover up the fatal 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald, but the judge has postponed her decision.

Jason Van Dyke was found guilty of second-degree murder in October. Next month, the suspended Chicago police officer will learn how much time he’ll spend in prison.

In a class-action lawsuit, the state’s child welfare agency is accused of keeping children confined to psychiatric hospitals beyond their discharge dates because it doesn’t have the necessary facilities to house them.

In just over a year, Mohammed Shariff says he illegally dispensed more than two kilograms of oxycodone and hundreds of thousands of other opioid pills to patients who planned to resell them.

There’s been a renewed focus on student sexual abuse after hundreds of cases within Chicago Public Schools came to light. But a new report finds that schools across the state aren’t doing enough to support abuse survivors.

A federal judge rules the upcoming trial of Brendt Christensen will be moved from Urbana to Peoria. He is charged with the kidnapping and death of 26-year-old Yingying Zhang.

Arguments are over in the trial of three Chicago cops accused of trying to cover up details of the Laquan McDonald shooting. Now it’s up to a judge to issue her verdict in a ruling that will come later this month.

Defense attorneys for three Chicago police officers will have their first opportunity to present evidence Thursday morning. But it remains to be seen if any witnesses will be called.

After the state rested its case Tuesday, defense attorneys each requested a directed finding of not guilty, claiming the state had failed to prove any conspiracy existed. More updates from week two in the courtroom.

Kwame Nkrumah Charter School and Urban Prep West Charter School have both failed to “provide a high quality education” for their students, the district says.

An eyewitness who says he was shooed away. A key witness who says a detective lied. Scrutiny over events leading up to the shooting. Key takeaways from week one of an unprecedented trial of three Chicago cops accused of working to cover up the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald.

A delayed ruling on key evidence will extend the special prosecution’s case into next week. The latest from the trial of three Chicago police officers accused of attempting to cover up the 2014 shooting death of Laquan McDonald.

Chicago police Officer Dora Fontaine testifies on day two in the trial of three Chicago police officers accused of conspiring to cover up details of the Laquan McDonald shooting. 

Were three Chicago cops adhering to an unofficial “code of silence” when they allegedly tried to cover up details of the Laquan McDonald shooting? Or were they simply working by the book? The latest from the courtroom.

Three current and former Chicago police officers will go on trial this week, accused of attempting to cover up details of the high-profile shooting. Here are the key names to know as the case gets underway.

A mass shooting at a Chicago hospital left four people dead, including an emergency room doctor, a police officer with less than two years on the force and a first-year pharmaceutical resident.

An Instagram video that captured the incident Tuesday morning shows students yelling and running through smoke-filled hallways after the fireworks were set off. A 16-year-old now faces a felony charge.

Special prosecutors believe it will take less than a week to present their case against a trio of current and former Chicago police officers accused of trying to cover up the 2014 shooting of black teen Laquan McDonald.

Kenneth Johnson spent more than three decades with the Chicago Police Department, but federal prosecutors allege the former commander stole $360,000 in Social Security funds over the course of 23 years.

State investigators say the armed security guard fatally shot by a Midlothian police officer outside a south suburban bar early Sunday was not wearing anything that identified him as security and ignored repeated orders to drop his weapon.

Joseph Kim, 24, will spend 15 months in federal prison after defrauding his former employer and a handful of investors out of more than $1 million in cash and cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Litecoin. 

A 14-year-old suburban student is facing a criminal charge after allegedly sending classmates an image of a Swastika over their phones during a school assembly last week.