Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability President Anthony Driver, Jr., said he had no doubt that he was stopped because he is a 6-foot-3-inch Black man who weighs more than 200 pounds and wears his hair in dreadlocks.

The conversation was the final installment of a three-part series, “Ending Gun Violence in Chicago: Connecting Policy, Practice and Community,” hosted by philanthropic group The Joyce Foundation in collaboration with WTTW and City Club of Chicago.

“This is still very much a frustration I have,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “I’ve been in conversations with the superintendent, with our budget director to come up with better systems.”

The new numbers show murders from January to June dropped 23% compared with the same period in 2023, while violent crime fell 10% and reported rapes decreased by 18%. Aggravated assaults during that period decreased 8% year over year, according to the data, while robberies fell 14% and reported property crime was down 13%.

Deputy Mayor of Community Safety Garien Gatewood told WTTW News’ “Chicago Tonight” program on Monday that city officials are excited to see what kind of technology is available.

A new report from NYU offers alternative solutions to policing that researchers said would better serve the public and free up police to investigate more serious crimes.

Calling the measure illegal, Mayor Brandon Johnson said he would veto it.

The showdown set for Wednesday is the latest inflection point in the monthslong debate over whether ShotSpotter is an irreplaceable tool in the fight against gun violence or a waste of taxpayer funds.

Illinois has some of the nation’s strictest gun laws. However, firearm legislation in neighboring states has a significant impact on Illinois. Despite the restrictions and regulations in place, gun trafficking still poses a problem.

Whenever there’s talk about how to curb gun violence, two words often come up: assault weapons. Illinois is one of 10 states — plus Washington, D.C. — with a so-called assault weapons ban on the books. WTTW News Explains what that ban does. 

An estimated 3 million children and teens are exposed to shootings every year in America. More than 1,300 of them have occurred in schools in the past decade.

It wasn’t just politicians and celebrities who took the stage at last week’s Democratic National Convention. Advocates shared their stories about how gun violence has impacted their lives and inspired them to take action. Edgar Vilchez, 19, was one of those speakers.

There were also a pair of police-involved shootings, one of them fatal, which are being investigated by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.

According to the Chicago Police Department, 33 people were shot in 28 separate shootings between Friday and Sunday evenings.

Two teens fatally shot in the Back of the Yards neighborhood Saturday were among five people killed by gunfire over the weekend across Chicago, according to the Chicago Police Department.

The Chicago Police Department has yet to launch a new study of whether officers are efficiently and effectively deployed across the city to stop crime and respond to calls for help. “I don’t understand what the hold up is,” Ald. Matt Martin (47th Ward) told WTTW News. “This is years, if not decades, overdue.”