The west suburban city is preparing to ramp up its reopening as the state moves into phase four on Friday. At the same time, Elgin is facing unrest of its own over a police-involved shooting in 2018. 

Chicago rapper Matt Muse helped lead a march Sunday from Lincoln Park to Wicker Park to bring attention to to the role of Black musicians and creators in the city’s entertainment and music spaces.

In addition to the traditional cookouts and readings of the Emancipation Proclamation — the Civil War-era order that declared all slaves free in Confederate territory — Americans were marching, holding sit-ins or car caravan protests. 

“This is a critical time in history and for law enforcement,” independent monitor Maggie Hickey said in a statement. “It is my hope that the current momentum around police accountability will inspire the City and the CPD to accelerate its efforts.”

Friday’s celebrations will be marked from coast to coast with marches and demonstrations of civil disobedience, along with expressions of Black joy in spite of an especially traumatic time for the nation. 

A couple hundred activists gathered outside of Chicago City Hall on Wednesday to call on the mayor and City Council to create a new elected board that would have the power to investigate and fire police officers. 

Prosecutors brought murder charges Wednesday against the white Atlanta police officer who shot Rayshard Brooks in the back, saying that the black man posed no threat when he was gunned down.

In Rose Garden remarks, President Donald Trump stressed the need for higher standards and commiserated with mourning families, even as he hailed the vast majority of officers as selfless public servants and held his law-and-order line.

For many people, calling the police to handle everything from noise complaints to neighbor disputes is a reflexive response. But for some, a troubled history with police makes calling 911 a difficult choice. 

Movies have helped create a perception that high-risk, daredevil police chases are vital for catching bad guys and rarely have dire consequences for officers or bystanders. Statistics suggests otherwise. 

The fatal shooting of a black man by a white Atlanta police officer and the death of another black man found hanging from a tree outside a city hall in California ignited new anti-racism protests over the weekend.

Citizen complaints against police across the U.S. are largely kept secret, either under the law or by union contract — a practice some criminal justice experts say deprives the public of information that could be used to root out problem officers before it’s too late.

“It is time, actually, it is way past time, for this change in our state,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Thursday, adding that she'd already directed her legal team to begin drafting legislation to be presented in Springfield.

As part of our ongoing series, we speak with local officials and activists about Evanston’s reopening and recent calls for police reform in the near north suburb.

The killing of George Floyd has reinvigorated calls for police reform. While some push for defunding the police, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has another idea.

Philonise Floyd challenged Congress to “stop the pain” as lawmakers consider a sweeping law enforcement overhaul, so his brother George won’t be just “another name” on a growing list of black Americans killed during interactions with police.