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It’s Tuesday. We hope you’re refreshed and well-rested after the holiday weekend. Start your week with some momentum with these headlines from WTTW News.
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A Flock Safety license plate reader is seen along a public road, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo / David Goldman, File)
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In recent months, automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) have gained national attention as critics voice concerns about surveillance of private citizens. ALPRs can read license plate data and record a vehicle’s make, model and color to help build a profile on a potential suspect in police searches.
Flock cameras, the ALPRs created by private security company Flock Safety, are used by more than 500 law enforcement agencies in Illinois. The city of Chicago does not have an active contract with Flock Safety, but has been using other ALPR systems for decades.
Police departments say Flock cameras help track down suspects in cases involving missing people, vehicle hit-and-runs and human trafficking.
Kristian Hammond, professor of computer science at Northwestern University, said the technology can be used to connect someone’s license plate to other data.
“It doesn’t identify people, but it does identify the cars they’re driving down to a very high level of precision,” Hammond said. “The thing that’s powerful about it is, of course, if I have them situated in an area, I can literally track someone as they’re driving, or as they have driven. That’s the power, the strength and the danger of that system.”
More context:
Critics have raised concerns about the constitutionality of ALPRs, citing the Fourth Amendment, which protects Americans against “unreasonable searches and seizures.” Because ALPR data can be used to track where a vehicle has been, there are concerns that agencies are able to reconstruct a person’s movements and therefore locate where they conduct daily activities. This argument has not gained much federal appeal, as courts have held that there should be no expectation of privacy in public view.
Ed Yohnka, director of communications and public policy for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, said the cameras were originally promised to make our streets safer, but promises have fallen short.
“What has become very obvious over the last, I would say maybe 18 months to two years, is that the cameras are rife for abuse,” Yohnka said.
Law enforcement officers in several Illinois towns have been accused of making unauthorized Flock camera searches. Officers who used the ALPR data to track ex-romantic partners and former colleagues are now facing criminal charges and internal investigations.
Hammond said there needs to be tighter restrictions for who has access to these systems and what they are used for.
“There have got to be very specific reasons for using the technology,” Hammond said.
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Ford City Mall is pictured in a file photo. (WTTW News)
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A plan to redevelop the now-shuttered Ford City Mall on Chicago’s Southwest Side is facing opposition.
A proposed $200 million transformation would convert the former commercial shopping site into a warehouse and distribution facility; there would be a new CTA bus terminal, reconstructed streets and sidewalks and a publicly accessible plaza. Some community members, however, worry about what an industrial campus could mean for the overall health of the neighborhood.
“Semi-trucks already congest Cicero Avenue, Pulaski and 79th, and residents are worried that (the project) is going to make it much worse in addition to the possible noise and air pollution that it will bring,” said Glenford Flowers, spokesperson for the Southside Flourish Movement. “To amplify that issue would simply be to neglect the voices of the community.”
Some backstory:
The proposed project, developed by Midwest Acquisitions and Management, would replace the present infrastructure with four industrial buildings, 904 passenger vehicle parking spaces, 160 truck parking spaces, 216 loading spaces and the Ford City Redevelopment Plaza — an open area with greenery to commemorate the land’s history and provide some outdoor seating for residents.
A traffic study completed by the development company concluded that the development will “generate significantly less total traffic than the Ford City Mall central building.”
In a bid to change course and make the area into something nearby residents and tourists could utilize, Flowers authored his own alternate redevelopment proposal.
“Around 45 million passengers go through Midway Airport annually, and so to have more of a tourism attraction to bring those tourism dollars to the South Side of Chicago would be a great way of satisfying the tax benefits of the industrial plan that’s ongoing,” Flowers said. “Then along with that, it’s to acknowledge community concerns and make sure that community spaces are still involved in that area.”
After receiving input from community members, the alternative development pitch is an expansive, mixed-use campus that contains a convention center just a couple miles away from Chicago Midway International Airport, improved condominiums, redeveloped apartments, green space, water retention ponds, a shopping center and movie theater.
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(seb_ra / iStock)
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Half the world’s population will experience menopause, but until recently it’s been a topic mostly discussed privately, if at all.
Three new Illinois laws seek to remedy some of the longstanding problems in women’s health care and education by shifting the topic of menopause out of the shadows and making it a main point of conversation.
What to know:
One recently passed bill, HB5284, creates the Illinois Menopause Equity and Care Act. Some of its provisions include improving access to menopause care, requiring the Illinois Department of Public Health to create educational materials regarding menopause for online viewing and making discrimination of a menopause-related condition a civil rights violation.
“Menopause and perimenopause is a natural part of life,” said state Rep. Camille Lilly (D-Oak Park), who backed the act. “We have been struggling with understanding it as a society and as doctors and we wanted to make sure that education was in front of us. We wanted to make sure women were feeling respected.”
Two other pieces of legislation, SB3325 and SB3688, both expand menopause education to healthcare professionals. According to the journal of the Menopause Society, less than a third of American OB-GYN residency programs offer a menopause curriculum of any kind.
“If our providers can’t answer our questions, where do we go? To the internet, where there’s a lot of people making a lot of money on non-evidence-based approaches to care,” said Pauline Maki, professor of psychiatry, psychology and obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Illinois Chicago. “So it’s really important that we be able to answer the needs of women with evidence-based care.”
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More From WTTW News:
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Via WTTW Playlist: International bubble tea, bakery and hot pot chains have opened in Chicago’s Chinatown in recent years. Some argue they are driving out mom-and-pop businesses, while others say they bring more people to the neighborhood.
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Back in the Day: September 8, 1986 - “The Oprah Winfrey Show” Goes National
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In 1983, Oprah Winfrey, a journalist who had worked in Baltimore as a TV anchor and talk show host, relocated to Chicago to host WLS-TV’s “A.M. Chicago.” In one year, she took its ratings from last to first for its timeslot. By 1985, it was renamed “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” That same year, she acted in Steven Spielberg’s “The Color Purple,” earning an Oscar nomination. To capitalize on that success and to take the advice of fellow journalist and TV personality Roger Ebert, she took “The Oprah Winfrey Show” into national syndication on this date 40 years ago. The first national episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” aired on Sept. 8, 1986. The show would run
from Chicago for 25 seasons and a whopping 4,561 episodes.
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This Week’s Staff Recommendations
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Every Tuesday, WTTW News staffers highlight their favorite things about Chicago. This week, reporter Nick Blumberg looks ahead to autumn with his favorite local places to watch the fall colors.
Nick Blumberg: Let me say up front: I’m a maximalist when it comes to summer, which as far as I’m concerned, begins Memorial Day weekend and ends Sept. 30. But I also love watching the trees change color each fall, especially with the rich variety of foliage around us. Here are some of my favorite places to take in the autumnal switcheroo.
On a bike: A Lakefront Trail ride is a perfect way to watch the yellows and reds fly by as you pedal, with my favorite view at Promontory Point in Hyde Park. (It’s not just for summer picnics!) The North Shore Channel Trail is another great fall ride, especially as you get farther north and the tree cover gets thicker and thicker.
Kankakee River State Park: A manageable jaunt down to Bourbonnais, the park offers everything from easy hiking trails for those keeping it simple all the way up to campgrounds for the truly outdoor inclined. (I will be on the easy hiking trails, but you do you.)
Prairie du Rocher: If you’re in the mood for a bit of a drive, the Prairie du Rocher area in southwestern Illinois offers some great autumn options. The Modoc Rock Shelter is a massive overhang underneath tree-lined limestone bluffs that are utterly breathtaking. (Yes, bluffs in Illinois! It’s not all flat!) The town itself is worth a look, too, with the town’s namesake bar featuring a killer Budweiser mural outside. And make time for the Fort de Chartres site, a French-built fort dating back to the 1700s.
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What's the No. 1 thing Chicagoans should do outside before summer is over?
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published.
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