Fire safety officials stage a demonstration on July 1, 2024, showing the dangers of fireworks. The event was held at the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital. (WTTW News)

Ahead of Fourth of July celebrations, local first responders and health care workers are reminding residents to practice firework safety by leaving fireworks to the professionals.

(WTTW News)

“Chicago Tonight: Latino Voices” host Joanna Hernandez moderated a conversation about how supporting victims of gun violence and finding a path toward healing plays a role in ending cycles of violence.

Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks at a news conference on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. (WTTW News)
,

All four of the neighborhoods have suffered from decades of disinvestment, fueling a cycle of violence that has made them some of the most violent places in Chicago, officials said.

Garien Gatewood, the deputy mayor of community safety. (WTTW News)

While views on how to address public safety are divided, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced his new plan Thursday, which he says will address the root causes of crime.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson appears on “Chicago Tonight” on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. (WTTW News)

Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former middle school teacher, told WTTW News on Thursday’s “Chicago Tonight” that he would give his administration an A-minus “at least for style,” with much more work to be done.

Mayor Brandon Johnson addresses reporters on Monday, Aug. 14, 2023, before introducing Chief Larry Snelling as his pick to lead the Chicago Police Department. (Heather Cherone / WTTW News)

The size of the Chicago Police Department is essentially unchanged since Mayor Brandon Johnson took office 100 days ago. There are 12,363 employees, including 11,722 sworn officers.

A memorial to the victims of the Highland Park shooting is pictured in July 2022. (WTTW News)

On Monday, WTTW News launches a new initiative, “A Safer City.” In an effort to help facilitate the complicated but necessary conversation around violence, we aim to explore violence in all its forms with depth and nuance.

Garien Gatewood, deputy mayor of community safety, appears on “Chicago Tonight” on June 26, 2023. (WTTW News)
,

It will be up to Garien Gatewood, the city’s new deputy mayor for community safety, to make good on Mayor Brandon Johnson’s promise to take a new approach to the surge of crime and violence that took hold in Chicago. 

(WTTW News)

Backing from the rank and file. Removing racist officers. Protecting marginalized communities. Those are just some of the priorities Chicagoans said they have for the next police superintendent during a virtual forum held Tuesday.

Chicago police Superintendent David Brown talks about city crime rates on Monday, Aug. 23, 2021. (WTTW News)
,

It’s now the job of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability to lead a search and to nominate three police superintendent candidates for Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson to consider.

Brandon Johnson addresses the media the morning after his election win on April 5, 2023. (WTTW News)
,

Chicago voters rejected efforts by moderate Democrats and Republicans to turn Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson’s support for criminal justice reform into a fatal liability.

Brandon Johnson celebrates after winning the Chicago mayoral election on April 4, 2023. (WTTW News)

In his victory speech, Brandon Johnson emphasized the importance of coalition in his campain and pointed toward the need to continue building coalitions across the city moving forward. He appealed to those who did not vote for him and promised to work together. 

(WTTW News)

Chicago will elect a new mayor and voters in 14 wards will also elect a new alderperson to the Chicago City Council. 

Paul Vallas fields questions from the news media on Feb. 7, 2023, after the WTTW News mayoral forum. (Liz Markel / WTTW)

Efforts by the leaders of large cities across the country to bring back officers amid a nationwide staffing crunch have fallen short, and experts on policing told WTTW News there is no evidence that Chicago will prove to be any different.

(WTTW News)

A shuttered Kmart will no longer serve as temporary housing for 658 asylum seekers currently living in Illinois. A source close to the situation said some of the migrants have found places to live independently while others will continue to stay at hotels, mostly in the south and southwest suburbs.

(WTTW News)

Sources told WTTW News the migrants — mostly asylum seekers — will be relocated from the suburbs, where they are currently staying at hotels. The 100,000-square-foot Kmart has sat vacant at the corner of 71st Street and Pulaski Road since 2016.