A WTTW News reporting initiative dives deep into neighborhood crime, violence and public safety as residents, policymakers and community groups work to address the growing issue.

People marched the streets in Bronzeville to demand that elected officials and law enforcement authorities do more to resolve missing persons and murder cases. Black girls and women are overrepresented in missing persons cases in Chicago, according to reports.
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The Chicago Police Department held an open training session at McCormick Place, where police demonstrated for media the different measures and strategies the department is planning to deploy during the August convention.
With rising overtime costing the city more each year, records show the Chicago Police Department paid a high price for overtime for shifts meant to curb violence before ending its strategic deployment initiative. The city did not explain how it judged the effectiveness of the plan it recently ended.
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“There’s no silver bullet here,” study author David Johnson said. “But there is some really solid evidence that the work that schools are doing matters. And I think that’s really exciting and important.”
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“I am heartened by the progress CPD has made,” Inspector General Deborah Witzburg said. “I think Chicagoans should be heartened. I think there are persistent concerns. I think there is time to address them.”
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The Chicago Police Department has fully met just 7% of the consent decree’s requirements, according to the most recent report by the team monitoring CPD’s progress.
Through the end of May, there have been 204 homicides and 979 shootings, both of which are the lowest totals for any year in Chicago since 2019.
A man who was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in the Back of the Yards neighborhood Sunday was among at least three people killed by gunfire across Chicago over the weekend.
Chicago police are better prepared to handle the large protests and crowds expected during the upcoming Democratic National Convention, but concerns still exist around the police department’s ability to put those preparations into action, a new watchdog report found.
The 5-year-old, Reig Ware, was fatally shot at around 3:30 a.m. Sunday in the 200 block of South Campbell Avenue.
Chicago City Council backs a plan to keep ShotSpotter. And Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s new plan for gun and drug charges tied to traffic stops.
Under a new proposal from Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, prosecutors would not file drug, gun and theft charges stemming from an initial traffic stop where there was no other probable cause to make the stop.
The vote represented a significant rebuke of Mayor Brandon Johnson and the central promise of his campaign, which vowed to address the root causes of crime and violence rather than focusing on law enforcement.
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is seeking $10 million from state lawmakers to tackle what he calls in a recent report “A Firearm Regulation Crisis.” 
According to Chicago Police Department figures, 45 people were shot, 1 fatally, in 31 separate shooting incidents recorded between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday.
Ald. David Moore told WTTW News he will force a vote on an order that accuses Mayor Brandon Johnson of having “usurped the will of the City Council and their ability to represent constituents” by canceling the city’s contract with SoundThinking, which operates the ShotSpotter gunshot detection system.
 

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