Chicago Justice Podcast

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AI is coming to policing and prosecution, with the same old promises. Jake Laperruque, Deputy Director of the Security and Surveillance Project at the Center for Democracy & Technology, joins us to look at AI tools that write police reports from body camera video, AI "detectives," and software that feeds leads to prosecutors.

We look at why technologies like ShotSpotter gunshot detection and Flock Safety license plate readers failed to make communities safer, and what that history tells us about AI. We also cover AI sycophancy, accountability, racial bias and the safeguards communities should demand.

Topics: AI in criminal justice, police surveillance, ShotSpotter, Axon, Truleo, Flock Safety, body cameras, civil liberties, Chicago criminal justice reform.

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Chicago police officers showed up on leaked membership lists of extremist groups like the Oath Keepers. City leaders promised action and delivered slaps on the wrist. Now, after more than a year of work, the Chicago City Council has passed an ordinance that empowers the Chicago Police Department and the police accountability system to investigate officers' ties to white supremacist organizations and remove active participants.

We talk with the ordinance's chief sponsor, Ald. Matt Martin (47th Ward), about why the law was needed, why it targets only the CPD, how it defines extremist organizations, why earlier efforts stalled under the Lightfoot administration, the delayed task force under Mayor Brandon Johnson, and what he hopes the ordinance will mean for police accountability in Chicago.

Topics: Chicago police reform, white supremacy in law enforcement, Oath Keepers, extremism, police accountability, COPA, Chicago City Council, criminal justice reform.

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Crime is falling in cities across America—so why does the public conversation sound like the opposite? Crime analyst Jeff Asher, co-founder of AH Datalytics and host of The Jeff-alytics Podcast, joins us to unpack how crime data is being misused, misread, and weaponized.

Social media, misinformation, and rising partisanship have turned crime statistics into political ammunition. When leaders deny data that challenges their views and exploit single violent incidents for political gain, we lose the ability to understand what actually drives crime—and to fund solutions that work.

In this episode:

• Can UCR and NIBRS data be compared year over year?

• Should we trust police department crime data?

• Why real estate “safety” rankings mislead

• How local media gets crime data wrong

• How politicians exploit crime data

• What worries Jeff most about how America uses crime data

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A stop for a missed turn signal and a dim license plate light should have been routine. Instead, it ended in an arrest on charges that don't hold up, and then in a fight over records that officials won't release.

This week, Emmy Award-winning KPRC 2 journalist Jaewon Jung joins us to break down a traffic stop earlier this year in Montgomery County, Texas, and what happened after the video became public.

Jung requested the deputy's personnel file and the sheriff's office's traffic stop policies. The department refused to release the personnel file, citing pending litigation, and the Texas Attorney General's office backed that decision. The policies were released, but they were completely blacked out. Both of Jung's appeals are still pending.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The pretext for the stop and the tactics the deputy used
• How far the deputy strayed from the state's traffic stop guidelines
• The body camera moment when the deputy says, "This is just how I do my traffic stops"
• The denial of the personnel file request and the completely redacted policies
• Why cover-ups do even more damage to community trust than the original incident

When officers ignore approved tactics, nobody is safer. When officials protect those officers instead of the public, the damage to community trust spreads much further.

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Under Louisiana law, people who were wrongfully convicted and served years, even decades, in state prison are entitled to compensation through the Louisiana Innocence Compensation Fund. It's a simple principle: when the state gets it wrong, the state owes something to the people it wronged.

But in practice, that compensation has been anything but guaranteed. In this episode, we're joined by investigative journalist Richard Webster of Verite News, a member of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network, to break down how Governor Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill have fought compensation claims again and again, sometimes even in cases involving DNA evidence or where judges have personally apologized to defendants while overturning their convictions.

We dig into how the compensation process actually works, why plea deals often let prosecutors avoid public accountability rather than pursue justice, and reports that Murrill threatened to use the power of her office against an exoneree simply for publicly maintaining his innocence.

In this episode:

• How the Louisiana Innocence Compensation Fund is supposed to work
• Cases involving DNA evidence and judicial apologies where the state still fought compensation
• Why plea deals can shield prosecutors and police rather than serve justice
• Reports of retaliation against an exoneree for speaking publicly about his innocence
• What accountability looks like when the state won't admit it got it wrong

Guest: Richard Webster, Investigative Reporter at Verite News and a member of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network

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Police shootings make headlines. Police officers sexually abusing children and adults rarely do. This week we sit down with Rachel LaPointe, a social worker turned independent investigator, who tracks gendered police violence across the country: officers caught paying minors for sex, school resource officers abusing students on duty, and departments that quietly rehire known offenders after six-figure settlements.

We dig into why prosecutors almost never hold these officers accountable, and why the media routinely softens coverage, describing abuse of a minor as an officer who "had sex with a student," as if a child can consent. Rachel explains the institutional complicity behind these cases, including a school district police force that hired an officer whose former department had already paid $1.5 million to settle a sexual misconduct claim.

A difficult but necessary conversation about power, silence, and what real accountability would require.

Follow Rachel's ongoing investigations:
TikTok: @rachel_mle
Instagram: @rachelmlap
Substack: genderedpoliceabuse.substack.com

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DC Councilmember Zachary Parker (Ward 5) joins us to unpack one of the most misunderstood issues in local politics today: youth gatherings and the media and political rhetoric that surround them. We ask a question many officials avoid: should cities respond with more policing and curfews, or invest in the root causes driving young people to gather in the first place?

Councilmember Parker makes the case for the latter. He walks us through his work partnering with DC's Department of Parks and Recreation to build community-based alternatives that have already reached thousands of youth across the District, alongside a real slowdown in large, unplanned gatherings. We also dig into DC's juvenile curfew laws, why the social science says they don't work, and what happened when Parker invited young people themselves to a roundtable to explain, in their own words, why curfews might actually be backfiring.

A candid conversation about policy, politics, and what it actually takes to solve a problem instead of just reacting to it.

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This week on the Chicago Justice Podcast, we sit down with Injustice Watch Senior Reporter Dan Hinkel to examine the changing role of the Cook County State's Attorney's Office Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) under State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke.

Cook County has recorded more exonerations than any county in the United States, a reflection of decades of police misconduct, coerced confessions, official corruption, and other systemic failures that have led to approximately 440 wrongful convictions being overturned. Yet despite that history, the CIU's approach to reviewing innocence claims appears to be shifting.

Hinkel discusses how O'Neill Burke has signaled that convictions should only be overturned when there is definitive evidence proving innocence, such as DNA evidence. Critics argue that standard ignores the reality that DNA evidence is rarely available in the types of cases that typically reach conviction review units and could significantly limit future exonerations.

We also explore the philosophy behind Conviction Integrity Units, whether prosecutors can objectively review convictions obtained by their own offices, the role of outside experts in innocence investigations, Kim Foxx's record on exonerations, and O'Neill Burke's history handling wrongful conviction cases.

If Cook County's Conviction Integrity Unit is changing course, what does that mean for people seeking to prove their innocence?

Listen as Dan Hinkel helps unpack one of the most important criminal justice debates facing Cook County today.

Guest: Dan Hinkel, Senior Reporter, Injustice Watch

Topics Covered:

• Cook County's history of wrongful convictions and exonerations
• The Conviction Integrity Unit under Eileen O'Neill Burke
• Whether DNA should be required to overturn convictions
• Conflicts of interest within conviction review units
• Kim Foxx's record on exonerations
• Certificates of Innocence
• The future of innocence claims in Cook County

🎧 Subscribe to the Chicago Justice Podcast for in-depth conversations on criminal justice, policing, courts, government accountability, and public policy.

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New reporting from The Trace has shed light on an important question in the gun violence prevention space: Why are firearms sold by certain retailers showing up in criminal investigations at disproportionately high rates?

In this week’s episode, we take a deep dive into data connecting California-based firearm retailer Turner’s Outdoorsman to a higher-than-expected number of guns later recovered as crime guns. According to reporting by The Trace, firearms sold by the retailer have consistently appeared in crime gun traces at rates that exceed expectations, raising questions about firearm diversion and gun trafficking patterns.

We also examine the concept of “time-to-crime,” a metric developed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that measures the time between a firearm’s initial retail sale and its recovery by law enforcement. A short time-to-crime can be an important indicator for investigators seeking to identify potential straw purchasing schemes and other forms of firearm trafficking.

Joining us is Arron Mendelson, Data Journalist at The Trace, who walks us through the reporting, explains how crime gun tracing data is analyzed, and discusses what these findings may reveal about the movement of firearms from legal sales into criminal activity. We also explore the limitations of the data, the broader role of gun retailers in preventing firearm diversion, and what policymakers, researchers, and advocates can learn from these trends.

Whether you’re interested in gun violence prevention, firearm trafficking, public safety, criminal justice, or investigative journalism, this conversation provides an in-depth look at how data can help uncover patterns that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Listen now to learn:

• What crime gun tracing data can tell us about firearm trafficking
• Why Turner’s Outdoorsman has drawn attention from researchers and journalists
• How the ATF’s time-to-crime metric works
• What short time-to-crime rates may indicate
• The challenges and limitations of analyzing crime gun data
• What these findings mean for public safety and gun violence prevention efforts

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California’s public records law is designed to give residents access to government information, but proposed changes to Assembly Bill 1821 (AB 1821) could significantly reshape how that access works in practice.

In this episode, we sit down with Sean McMorris, Transparency, Ethics & Accountability Program Manager at California Common Cause, to discuss the ongoing debate surrounding AB 1821 and what it could mean for government transparency, public oversight, and the public’s right to know.

Sean breaks down the bill’s proposed amendments, including provisions that could increase costs for public records requesters, extend response times for government agencies, require requesters to disclose why they want records, and, in certain circumstances, allow government entities to challenge or sue requesters based on their intended use of the information.

We explore the broader implications for journalists, watchdog groups, community organizations, researchers, and everyday citizens who rely on public records laws to hold government accountable. What is at stake for transparency in California, and how could these changes affect the future of public access to government information?

Whether you’re concerned about open government, freedom of information, public accountability, or civic engagement, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.

Topics covered:

• California Assembly Bill 1821 (AB 1821)
• Public records and FOIA-style laws
• Government transparency and accountability
• Open government and ethics reform
• Access to public information
• Public records request costs and delays
• Civic engagement and democracy
• California Common Cause

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What happens when a police unit operates outside traditional oversight and is staffed by officers with troubling disciplinary histories?

In this episode, we take a deep dive into the New York Police Department’s Community Response Team (CRT), a controversial unit that has drawn scrutiny for its aggressive tactics, alleged constitutional violations, and lack of accountability. We examine reporting that raises serious questions about the unit’s operations, including allegations that CRT officers repeatedly engaged in unconstitutional stops, searches, and enforcement actions.

Our discussion also explores the makeup of the unit itself, including the significant number of officers assigned to CRT who have histories of sustained misconduct complaints. We unpack what that says about police culture, leadership, and the broader challenges of reform.

Perhaps most troubling, we examine claims that the unit functioned outside the NYPD’s traditional chain of command, with key decisions allegedly driven directly by Mayor Eric Adams’ office rather than department leadership. What does this mean for transparency, accountability, and democratic oversight of policing?

Joining us is Eric Umansky, Editor-at-Large at ProPublica, whose investigative reporting helped uncover the inner workings of the CRT and the political dynamics surrounding the unit.

This is a critical conversation about policing, public accountability, constitutional rights, and who really controls law enforcement in one of the nation’s largest cities.

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More than 100,000 Automated License Plate Reader cameras are now operating across the United States, feeding data into networks shared by thousands of police departments and federal agencies. But where are these cameras located, and who is most affected by this growing surveillance infrastructure?

In this episode, we speak with Professor Steven Keener of Christopher Newport University, first author of the recent study “Surveillance Inequality: Race, Poverty, and the Geography of Automated License Plate Reader Deployment.“ Together, we explore the findings of the research and what they reveal about the relationship between surveillance, race, poverty, and community impact.

As part two of our series on Flock Safety and ALPR technology, this conversation examines how these systems work, how data is shared among more than 3,000 law enforcement agencies, and why these developments are generating growing concern among researchers, advocates, and community members.

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In this episode, we begin a special series examining the rapid expansion of Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) technology and the growing privacy and civil liberties concerns surrounding its use.

Flock Security, one of the nation’s largest ALPR providers, reports that more than 100,000 cameras have been deployed across the United States. These cameras collect detailed information about vehicles, including license plate numbers, make, model, color, distinctive features, and the precise location and time of capture. Much of this data is accessible through a centralized network used by thousands of law enforcement agencies, raising important questions about surveillance, accountability, data sharing, and constitutional protections.

To help unpack how these systems work, what information they collect, and how they are increasingly being used by local police departments, we are joined by Jon McCray Jones, Policy Analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin. Together, we explore the capabilities of Flock cameras, concerns about warrantless access to vehicle location data, the potential for misuse, and the broader implications for privacy in an era of expanding surveillance technologies.

This is the first installment of a multipart series investigating ALPR systems, their impact on communities, and the policy debates shaping their future.

Topics discussed:

• What Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) are and how they work
• Flock Security’s nationwide camera network
• Vehicle tracking, data collection, and retention practices
• Information-sharing among thousands of law enforcement agencies
• Privacy, civil liberties, and Fourth Amendment concerns
• Transparency, oversight, and accountability challenges
• The potential role of federal agencies and data access questions
• What communities should know about surveillance technology in their neighborhoods

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What really happened on New Year’s Day 2019 when North Carolina State Highway Patrol troopers shot and killed Brandon Webster?

For years, the official account of the shooting was accepted by law enforcement leaders, government officials, and the media. But behind the scenes, an internal investigation uncovered evidence showing that the trooper’s version of events could not have happened as reported. Despite those findings, both the Highway Patrol’s internal review and an investigation by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation ultimately upheld the official narrative.

This week, we’re joined by Joseph Neff of The Marshall Project, whose reporting exposed the contradictions, the buried evidence, and the troubling questions surrounding the investigations that followed Webster’s death. Together, we examine how official narratives take hold, why conflicting facts were ignored, and what this case reveals about accountability, transparency, and police oversight.

Listen as we unpack one of North Carolina’s most disturbing law enforcement cover-ups and the reporting that brought the truth to light.

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In this episode, we sit down with Joanna C. Schwartz, UCLA law professor and author of Shielded: How the Police Became Untouchable, to unpack the hidden systems that protect police from consequences.

We go beyond the headlines about qualified immunity to explore what really blocks accountability:

• Why most police misconduct lawsuits fail before trial
• How courts, police departments, and legal rules work together to “shield” officers
• The surprising truth about who actually pays when lawsuits succeed
• Why internal discipline systems rarely deliver justice
• What reforms could actually change the system

Grounded in real cases, data, and decades of research, Schwartz reveals a reality most people never see: accountability doesn’t just break down in court—it fails at every stage.

If you care about policing, civil rights, or how legal systems actually work in practice, this conversation is essential listening.

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This week, we break down the controversial 2022 raid of Grammy-nominated rapper Afroman’s home by Adams County Sheriff’s deputies and the legal fallout that followed. Acting on claims from a confidential informant alleging kidnapped women, a “sex dungeon,” and large quantities of marijuana, officers executed a warrant that ultimately uncovered none of it. In fact, there wasn’t even a basement.

Joining us is Afroman’s attorney, Dr. David Osborne, who walks us through the critical legal questions at the heart of the case, from the reliability of the informant to the steps deputies did or didn’t take to verify the allegations before obtaining the warrant.

We also dive into the aftermath. Afroman used home security footage from the raid in a series of music videos tied to his 18th studio album, and seven deputies later filed a civil lawsuit alleging defamation and invasion of privacy.

Was this a failure of police procedure, a breakdown in judicial oversight, or something more? Tune in as we unpack the facts, the law, and what this case could mean for accountability in law enforcement.

What we cover:
How a single informant’s claims led to a full-scale raid
The warrant process and probable cause questions
What deputies found and didn’t find
The legal battle over Afroman’s use of the footage
Broader implications for civil liberties and police accountability

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How politics, media, and institutions distort crime narratives across America

Fear has become the dominant framework for how Americans understand crime—and it is often deliberately manufactured.

In this episode of the Chicago Justice Podcast, host Tracy Siska, Executive Director of the Chicago Justice Project, introduces a new national focus for the show. We examine how crime and violence are exploited by political leaders, media outlets, justice system officials, and police unions to shape public perception, deflect accountability, and justify extreme policy responses.

Despite well‑documented declines in violent crime across much of the country from 2022 through 2025, fear‑based narratives persist. Isolated incidents are amplified, progress is denied, and national trends are ignored when they complicate political agendas.

This episode challenges the myths surrounding crime “waves,” questions who benefits from public fear, and explores how distorted narratives can lead to real‑world consequences—including militarized responses and the erosion of democratic accountability.

This episode marks the beginning of our expanded national lens on public safety, justice, and truth.

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In a first-of-its-kind independent analysis of the effectiveness of ShotSpotter, the science says the technology does not lead to more arrests and convictions for gun crimes and does not reduce these crimes in the areas where it is deployed. The study examined the impact of ShotSpotter in Chicago and Kansas City.

To understand the science more deeply, we sat down with the study’s first author, Dr. Eric Piza, who is a Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Director of Crime Analysis Initiatives, and Co-Director of the Crime Prevention Lab at Northeastern University.

The study does uncover that ShotSpotter positively impacted response times, the location of victims, and the recovery of evidence from crime scenes. While this all sounds great, it is not even remotely reflective of the criminological gains promised by SoundThinking, the company that owns the technology. The original sales pitch promised more arrests for gun crimes and convictions and, thus, a reduction in gun violence. None of these promises have come to fruition.

This scholarly peer-reviewed analysis mostly mirrors previous analyses conducted by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, the MacArthur Justice Center, and the Chicago Office of Inspector General. Pro-police politicians & journalists in Chicago have dismissed all three of these previous analyses as biased, including the one from the City’s Inspector General. The alt-right refuses to hear any criticism of the police department, no matter how fact-based those criticisms might be. This shuts down any possibility of a public discussion on the merits of anything the police are in favor of.

This most recent study is just being ignored by the media and politicians in Chicago. This is probably because they cannot label it biased. Instead, many alderpersons in Chicago are calling on the mayor to keep the ShotSpotter contract in place despite the technology failing to deliver on any of its promises.

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We open season four with a discussion of Karina’s bill, which hopes to formalize a process for the courts & police departments throughout Illinois to seize guns from individuals who have an order of protection entered against them. Our guest today is Danielle Parisi Ruffatto, Managing Director of the Family Law and Protective Orders Division at Ascend Justice. We discuss the horrific murder of Karina Gonzales & her daughter Daniela Alvarez at the hands of Karina’s husband, Jose Alvarez, who had been ordered to stay away from the home. The protector order Karina received from the court revokes a person’s FOID card, but the court and police do not have a formal process for ensuring that officers remove the gun when they are serving the order of protection. Karina’s bill will formalize this process while empowering judges to approve search warrants when entering the protective order to allow officers to search homes & retrieve weapons if necessary. Support CJP via Patreon Get involved in our work - Join CJP Nation!

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On today’s show, we discuss the connection between racialized policing in the US and the efforts by the right-wing to erase slavery from America’s history. We discuss this with Joseph Flynn, the Executive Director for Equity and Inclusion in the Division of Academic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and an associate professor of curriculum and instruction at Northern Illinois University. The efforts to rewrite American history are an attempt to prevent Americans from realizing the connection between slavery, Jim Crow laws, the civil rights struggle in the mid-20th century, and policing in communities of color today. Absent this context, it could seem ridiculous for anyone to conclude that the justice system is and has been systemically racist. The right-wing wants everyone to think that the murders of George Floyd and Laquan McDonald are unrelated events. That the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse for his crimes had nothing to do with the fact that America has, since its founding, feared black men and justified just about any action taken by white men against the bodies and lives of black men if the white man was “scared.” The verdict can easily be accepted if you view it from the lens of white supremacy that dictates that black men are nothing more than urban predators who cannot control their most primal urges. We also discuss the epidemic of fear surrounding ethnic studies programs at universities across the country. This fear has been driven by America’s growing underbelly of unsophisticated and fearful residents seeking someone to blame for the struggles in their lives. This makes them ripe for manipulation by the right-wing media machine and politicians who seek to benefit themselves at the expense of their supporters. This wedge serves to empower right-wing elites while simultaneously not only hurting communities of color but also putting the lives and bodies of people of color on the line. Dr. Joseph Flynn's Perspectives on WNIU - Northern Public Radio can be found here.