Like Peoria and Champaign before it, Springfield is the latest IL city to adopt a national model for a community-wide approach to reducing gun violence. Brian Mackey explains what it looks like, and whether it’s shown success elsewhere.
Police data show gun violence a chronic, growing problem across Illinois
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His name was Devon McClyde and he was 16 years old when he was caught in the crossfire of an argument while playing basketball one evening in a local park in Danville on June 8, 2016. He died three days later – the victim of another gun crime in Central Illinois. At least 100 people died from gunfire over the past three years and at least 500 were wounded, according to data obtained from a sample of police departments of eight small cities in downstate Illinois. The data, obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, is kept in different formats and is often incomplete. Yet the data show that gun violence has been a chronic issue over the past decade and that some cities have seen recent surges in shootings.
Featured in Category
Center for juvenile delinquents deals with more than 500 clients a year
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There is no such thing as a typical day at the Youth Assessment Center in Champaign, according to director Jonathan Westfield.
Jails
As deadline approaches for action on downtown jail, Champaign County faces funding and activists as roadblocks
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With a U.S. Department of Justice-imposed deadline approaching, Champaign County officials have increasing pressure on them to either renovate or close the 37-year-old jail in downtown Urbana.
University responds to CU-CitizenAccess, The Daily Illini investigation of sex crime reporting
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The University of Illinois submitted the following op-ed in response to stories by CU-CitizenAccess and The Daily Illini about sexual assault on campus. CU-CitizenAccess is confident in the reporting on the issue. We will address the points made by the university in its letter in subsequent stories.
The op-ed, from University police chief Jeff Christensen and Title IX Director Danielle Morrison, is published in full:
University officials delay in forwarding sex-related crimes to police
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University officials neglected to forward student reports of sex offenses to university police for months, despite the requirement that all sex crimes be reported immediately, according to a CU-CitizenAccess and The Daily Illini analysis and interviews with the police department.
Clery Act numbers lag behind reported sex crimes on campus
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Officials have long said that sex offenses are underreported to authorities on campus, just as they are nationwide. But it has not been apparent that University officials are unable to track the number of sex-related crimes reported to them.
Mass emails few, far between reported sex crimes
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For three years, the University of Illinois campus police failed to send out mass email alerts on sex-related crimes, despite requirements to do so by the U.S. Department of Education, according to a CU-CitizenAccess and The Daily Illini analysis of police records.
Justice
$1 million lawsuit filed against Champaign County for death of inmate Toya Frazier
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The lawsuit was filed on Dec. 1 by Frazier’s sister Jacqueline Jones against the county, Sheriff Dan Walsh and four medical and correctional staff members. It demands damages of $1 million.
Justice
New court documents show top Champaign officials knew about problem officer before excessive force incidents
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Top Champaign officials had met with concerned citizens about the conduct of former police officer Matt Rush as far back as 2012 – well before four incidents that led to excessive force lawsuits, new documents filed in court Wednesday show.
bike
Bikes stolen on campus seldom recovered
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If a bike is stolen from a University of Illinois student on the Urbana-Champaign campus, there is little chance the bike will be recovered.
In fact, 95 bikes worth about $27,000 in total were reported stolen in 2015 and only 16 — about $3,600 worth — were recovered, according to university police.