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(WTTW News) |
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Chicago Police Department officials are working to “fix” the “discrepancy” that led to 210,622 undocumented traffic stops in 2024, a high-ranking Chicago Police Department official told a key city panel.
CPD officials reported officers made 295,846 traffic stops in 2024 to the Illinois Department of Transportation, which is required by state law to track all stops made by police officers throughout Illinois. But the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications recorded that officers made an additional 210,622 stops in 2024 that were not documented as required by state law and CPD policy, making it impossible to know whether drivers’ constitutional rights were protected during those stops, as WTTW News reported in March.
Ald. Desmon Yancy (5th Ward) pressed Noe Flores, the deputy director of CPD’s Office of Analysis and Evaluation, which is part of the department’s Strategic Initiatives Division, for answers about the apparent discrepancy during a June 26 hearing before the City Council’s Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee.
Flores acknowledged there are “differences” between the number of traffic stops reported by CPD to state officials and the number of traffic stops recorded by dispatchers working for the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, known as OEMC. Those are “almost two different data sets,” Flores said.
“It looks like what may be happening is that they are being marked down on traffic stops but they’re not really down on traffic stops,” Flores said. “There’s traffic stops that in maybe in the classical sense don’t constitute to the level of where they have to fill out a card, whether it be a vehicle that was pulled over for the commission of a crime, or if you’re doing seat belt missions or if you’re doing other missions or let’s say you went down on a traffic crash. They may be marked down as being on a traffic stop but they are not on an actual traffic stop.”
Flores’ remarks represent the first time a high-ranking official has discussed, in detail, questions about the apparently unreported stops. In a statement to WTTW News in March, a CPD spokesperson said the department was working to improve how data is collected and increase supervision of officers’ documentation but declined to respond to detailed questions.
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Officer Krystal Rivera. (Courtesy of Chicago Police Department) |
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The parents of Chicago police Officer Krystal Rivera are calling for “full transparency,” including an independent investigation and the release of all available body camera footage, weeks after their daughter was mistakenly shot and killed by her partner.
“I need to understand what happened that night,” the officer’s mother Yolanda Rivera said Wednesday. “I need to know the truth.”
Rivera, a 36-year-old mother and four-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department, was unintentionally shot by her partner, Officer Carlos A. Baker, during a foot pursuit in Chatham on June 5. She was laid to rest following a funeral last week.
The family’s attorney Antonio Romanucci on Wednesday criticized the Chicago Police Department’s narrative of the incident thus far, saying something “isn’t right” about Rivera’s death.
“It does not yet pass the smell test,” Romanucci said during a press conference. “We have many questions that need to be answered.”
The incident is currently under investigation by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which investigates officer use-of-force incidents. A spokesperson for the agency added that COPA routinely notifies the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office anytime an officer discharges their firearm, and did so in this case.
But Rivera’s family called for a separate investigation into the shooting led by the Illinois State Police and sought to pressure Chicago police officials to publish the not-yet-available body and dash camera footage from the fatal shooting. |
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A file photo of people walking at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. (Gabriel Ramos / iStock) |
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O’Hare is expected to see one of the busiest Fourth of July weekends this year, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation.
About 1.54 million travelers are expected to pass through O’Hare over the next six days, starting from Wednesday through Monday, according to a news release. The expected number of travelers is an 11% increase compared to last year’s Fourth of July weekend, according to city aviation officials.
The busiest day at O’Hare is expected to be Sunday. About 300,000 passengers are projected to pass through the airport on Sunday, a nearly 40% surge from the airport’s daily average. Midway is expecting to see about 320,000 passengers over the next six days, on par with last year’s numbers. Its busiest day is also projected to be Sunday, when 59,000 passengers are expected to pass through the airport. City officials are asking travelers to arrive early to the airport as they may experience longer wait times at security checkpoints due to an increase in travelers.
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California Attorney General Rob Bonta alleged on Tuesday that the Trump administration violated federal privacy laws when it turned over Medicaid data on millions of enrollees to deportation officials last month. He said that 20 states, including Illinois, have sued over the move.
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Back in the Day: July 3, 1933 - The Romance of a People
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Here’s a dose of Chicago history from 92 years ago. On this date in 1933, 125,000 people filled Soldier Field to celebrate 3,000 years of Jewish history — and 100 years of Jewish history in Chicago. The "The Romance of a People” event, organized by what was then called the Jewish Agency for Palestine, was part of the 1933 World's Fair: A Century of Progress. It featured 6,000 actors, singers, and dancers and a massive interfaith crowd. "We have no history…that is exclusively our own as Jews," Judge Harry M. Fisher, general chairman of the events of that day said. “Our religious history belongs not only to Judaism, but also to Christianity and Mohammedanism. The 'Romance of a People' will be shared with our Christian friends as a common historical experience.” The event served as a rebuke to the regime of hate and fascism burgeoning in Hitler’s Germany at the time. |
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This Week’s Arts and Culture Events |
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Every Thursday, WTTW News arts correspondent Marc Vitali highlights Chicago’s must-see cultural events.
Marc Vitali: If you can’t “Get out of town,” as the Cole Porter song says, at least get out of your house or apartment. Or just get off Mom’s couch, if that’s where you’re stuck. (No judgement – we’ve all been there, and by “we” I mean “me.”) Start the second half of 2025 on sure footing – see something, do something. Maybe even take Mom.
“City in a Garden: Queer Art and Activism in Chicago” – MCA Chicago
Thirty artists and collectives from the 1980s till now convey Chicago’s essential role in the story of queer art and activism. Taking its title from the city motto “Urbs in Horto,” the show speaks to artists’ view of Chicago as a sanctuary for people of all races, genders and sexualities. Featuring Nick Cave, Roger Brown and many more, the exhibition sounds more urgent than it did just a year ago. Opens July 5
“80 Minutes Around the World: Immigration Stories” – Steppenwolf Theater
A profusion of performance hosted by Nestor Gomez, who has won the Moth StorySLAM 80 times (Really? Really – I checked). Gomez welcomes storytellers and comedians who share stories by immigrants, refugees and allies – all reflecting on the experience of migrants and their descendants. Part of Steppenwolf’s Summer LookOut Series. Saturday, July 5 and Sunday, July 6
“Dressed in History” – Chicago History Museum
Time is running out to see this retrospective on fashion and clothing – it goes back into the archival closet on July 27. The exhibition is a salute to the museum’s vast and storied costume collection and includes everything from wool bathing suits to a Christian Dior gown to a pair of Air Jordan 1s, none of which you can try on. It’s a custom-fit look at wearable artifacts that have added to Chicago lore.
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What’s your favorite neighborhood to visit on Chicago's West Side? Tell us why. |
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. |
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