ILLINOIS POLICE REFORM BILL
8 Cities That Help Explain National Crime Wave
The rise in violent crime has become a national trend in the past few years as cities reach homicide rates not seen in decades. FBI statistics show a 30% increase in violent crime in 2020 compared to the previous year, the largest single-year increase since the agency...
As police were abandoning East Precinct, Seattle officials drafted plan to give station to a Black Lives Matter group
At the height of Seattle’s racial justice protests in 2020, then-Mayor Jenny Durkan’s administration drafted legislation to transfer the Police Department’s East Precinct building to a Black Lives Matter activist organization and researched relocating the station’s...
DC Officer Shot in Northwest, Suspect Still At Large
A D.C. police officer was shot and wounded Sunday night in Northwest D.C., the Metropolitan Police Department said. Authorities called off a barricade situation, but the shooter remains at large. The officer's injuries were not life-threatening, police said. The...
Shootings Drop, But Carjackings, Robberies Jump On Far North Side
ROGERS PARK — Jeff Kelley had just arrived in Rogers Park from California to visit his daughter when he became the first victim of a prolific armed robbery spree. As he was pulling luggage out of his daughter’s car just after 10 p.m. Nov. 22, Kelley noticed a man...
Democrats Rushed to ‘Reimagine’ Policing in Washington State. Now It’s Unsafe.
SEATTLE—Democrats in Washington state rode the wave of anti-police sentiment after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Their goal was to “reimagine policing,” and it’s exactly what they did. Consequently, Washington experienced a surge of violent crime. Now...
Teen Charged With 21 Counts of Burglary, Theft After Several Ulta Stores Targeted: Police
A 15-year-old is facing nearly two dozen counts of burglary and theft, including a felony charge, after allegedly targeting several Chicago Ulta stores, the city's top cop announced Friday. Chicago Police Supt. David Brown announced the arrest Friday during a press...
Philadelphia gun owner fatally shoots one of three men trying to steal his car
A Philadelphia man shot and killed a man who was trying to steal his car from outside his house, according to reports. The licensed gun owner shot at least once early Tuesday after seeing three men trying to tow away his car, possibly just to rip out its catalytic...
Republicans announce effort to repeal SAFE-T Act
Republicans are calling for their Democratic counterparts in the Illinois House to join them in efforts to repeal criminal justice reforms, known as the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today Act. GOP Reps. Patrick Windhorst of Metropolis, Ryan Spain of...
Editorial: New Illinois crime law is put to the test. We’re both worried and watching.
With crime spiking across the state, both parties in Springfield find themselves wrestling with a life-and-death issue that's begging for problem-solvers, not demagoguery. Yet politics is never far behind. In Illinois, the issue provides an obvious target for...
‘It’s ugly out there’: Rail thefts leave tracks littered with pilfered packages
The scene was a stretch of railroad tracks in Lincoln Heights on Saturday: A blizzard of torn plastic wrappers, cardboard boxes and paper packaging attesting to a wave of rail car thievery that officials say has been on the rise in recent months. Several scavengers...