Chicago Justice Podcast

Tracy Siska
  • 4.3 (3)
  • Non-Profit
  • Weekly

The Chicago Justice Podcast challenges the stories we're told about crime, public safety, and justice. Instead of accepting headlines, political talking points, or conventional wisdom at face value, we dig deeper to uncover what the data, research, and lived experiences actually reveal. Each episode features candid conversations with journalists, researchers, advocates, policymakers, and people working to transform the justice system from within. Together, we examine the policies, institutions, and power structures that shape who is criminalized, who is protected, and who is left behind. From policing and police accountability to gun violence, surveillance, incarceration, public records, government transparency, and criminal justice reform, we explore the complex issues driving today's debates about safety and justice. Some conversations are uncomfortable. Others are infuriating. All of them are necessary. Grounded in evidence, accountability, and a commitment to challenging dominant narratives, The Chicago Justice Podcast goes beyond sound bites to expose how systems really work and whose interests they serve. If you're ready to question assumptions, confront hard truths, and explore what real justice and public safety could look like, this podcast is for you.

  1. Oct 19

    AI Policing: Old Promises, New Dangers

    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. Support CJP: https://chicagojustice.org/donate/ Get Involved: https://chicagojustice.org/become-part-of-the-cjp-nation/ Send us Fan Mail

  2. Oct 12

    Rooting White Supremacists Out of the Chicago Police

    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. Support CJP: https://chicagojustice.org/donate/ Get Involved: https://chicagojustice.org/become-part-of-the-cjp-nation Send us Fan Mail

  3. Oct 5

    Weaponizing Crime Data: Jeff Asher on Facts vs. Fear

    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 Support CJP: https://chicagojustice.org/donate/ Get Involved: https://chicagojustice.org/become-part-of-the-cjp-nation/ Send us Fan Mail

  4. Sep 28

    Blacked Out: The Montgomery County Traffic Stop Cover-Up

    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 usedHow far the deputy strayed from the state's traffic stop guidelinesThe 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 policiesWhy cover-ups do even more damage to community trust than the original incidentWhen officers ignore approved tactics, nobody is safer. When officials protect those officers instead of the public, the damage to community trust spreads much further. Send us Fan Mail

  5. Sep 21

    When Justice Isn't Enough: Louisiana's Fight Over Compensating the Wrongfully Convicted

    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 workCases involving DNA evidence and judicial apologies where the state still fought compensationWhy plea deals can shield prosecutors and police rather than serve justiceReports of retaliation against an exoneree for speaking publicly about his innocenceWhat accountability looks like when the state won't admit it got it wrongGuest: Richard Webster, Investigative Reporter at Verite News and a member of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network Send us Fan Mail

  6. Sep 14

    Gendered Police Violence: The Crimes the Media Won't Name

    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 Send us Fan Mail

  7. Sep 7

    Beyond Curfews: DC Councilmember Zachary Parker on Youth Gatherings

    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. Send us Fan Mail

  8. Aug 31

    The Conviction Integrity Unit Under Eileen O'Neill Burke: A New Direction, Fewer Exonerations?

    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 exonerationsThe Conviction Integrity Unit under Eileen O'Neill BurkeWhether DNA should be required to overturn convictionsConflicts of interest within conviction review unitsKim Foxx's record on exonerationsCertificates of InnocenceThe 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. Send us Fan Mail

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Ratings & Reviews

4.3
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

The Chicago Justice Podcast challenges the stories we're told about crime, public safety, and justice. Instead of accepting headlines, political talking points, or conventional wisdom at face value, we dig deeper to uncover what the data, research, and lived experiences actually reveal. Each episode features candid conversations with journalists, researchers, advocates, policymakers, and people working to transform the justice system from within. Together, we examine the policies, institutions, and power structures that shape who is criminalized, who is protected, and who is left behind. From policing and police accountability to gun violence, surveillance, incarceration, public records, government transparency, and criminal justice reform, we explore the complex issues driving today's debates about safety and justice. Some conversations are uncomfortable. Others are infuriating. All of them are necessary. Grounded in evidence, accountability, and a commitment to challenging dominant narratives, The Chicago Justice Podcast goes beyond sound bites to expose how systems really work and whose interests they serve. If you're ready to question assumptions, confront hard truths, and explore what real justice and public safety could look like, this podcast is for you.

Information

  • Creator
    Tracy Siska
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    147
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Chicago Justice Podcast
  • Show Website
    Chicago Justice Podcast