The Chicago Reporter

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The city’s effort to stem police misconduct is falling short, leaving abusive officers to operate with near impunity.

Kimbriell Kelly

May, 2012 Tarnished trust Florida’s Trayvon Martin case taught us a lot of things. But among the lessons learned is that police accountability is not only a Windy City issue.In Chicago, I would argue that the lack of accountability with rogue officers has left residents of high-crime neighborhoods distrustful of the police accountability system, which allows abusive officers to keep their jobs with little discipline.... > Read More	March, 2012 More labor accountability Nobody likes to get stiffed—especially when it comes to their paycheck.Wage theft is so prevalent in our society these days as companies look for ways to produce goods and services at a fraction of what it cost five and 10 years ago. It’s not always blatant, often subtle and pernicious—unpaid overtime, unpaid vacation, less money in the paycheck.But the victim is clear: the worker.There are many... > Read More	February, 2012 National black HIV/AIDS awareness day: voices from around the web Three years ago, The Chicago Reporter took a look at HIV/AIDS funding in the state’s African-American community. What we uncovered was a disjointed network, with activists fighting for their share of the money pie and organizations spending big bucks on prevention and advocacy programs while infection rates in the community continued to rise.While there is no doubt that there are dedicated... > Read More
January, 2012 Time to deal with dilapidation It’s a new year with new resolutions. And I’ve got some for local and federal housing authorities.In 2012, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development should resolve to be courageous and slow the money that flows to landlords running an arsenal of dilapidated housing stock for Chicago’s low-income residents.HUD should stop lining the pockets of irresponsible landlords and instead force... > Read More	September, 2011 CHA must tweak one-strike I love flowers. I’ve always loved flowers. Let me lay out in a field of daisies all day, and I’m content.So it wasn’t too surprising that when I was about 8 years old, I grabbed a plastic flower as my mother walked my sister and me down the aisle at a crafts store. It wasn’t until we were in the parking lot loading the trunk that my mother noticed the unpaid flower still in my hand. She then... > Read More	July, 2011 Illinois’ slice for contractors Perhaps if more minorities got state contracts, there would be fewer minorities out of work.That’s a stretch, but perhaps it’s partly true. In The Chicago Reporter’s current cover story “Empty jackpot,” reporter Megan Cottrell tallied how many businesses benefitted from a state program that grants contracts to businesses owned by minorities, women and people with a disability.The state pats... > Read More
May, 2011 This won’t end well It’s hard to root for the bad guys. And I’m an optimist, so I’m always the person at the movies hoping for a happy ending.But the work that we do at The Chicago Reporter isn’t always so clear-cut. This month’s cover investigation is a prime example. Reporter Angela Caputo has unearthed some startling statistics that poke holes into commonly held perceptions about a group of people many of us... > Read More	March, 2011 Too close for comfort I was talking to my neighbor last fall when an unfamiliar man walked out of a house and stood in the driveway talking to a group of teens. "Who's that? A new neighbor?" I asked my neighbor. "Yes," she replied as her kids kicked a ball around at her feet. "From what I've heard, he's the boyfriend of the woman who lives there with her children. I hear he's a sex offender. But if you look at... > Read More	January, 2011 A city not working The next mayor of Chicago is going to have a big burden on his or her shoulders trying to ensure that "the city that works" really works. In this issue's cover story, "Loopholes," Reporter Angela Caputo gives us a glimpse of the city's job market. In recent years, this story has been told in Chicago from the lens of the number of people who are unemployed. We all cringed when the... > Read More