Chicago’s traffic stop policy is broken. What once manifested as stop-and-frisk has evolved into an overwhelming surge in violent traffic stops — especially “pretextual” ones.
These are stops where drivers are pulled over for a minor infraction like a broken taillight, but the true intent is often an unrelated investigation. The result? Disproportionate stops of Black and Brown drivers, an erosion of public trust and very little connection to actual safety.
As a district council member representing the Chicago Police Department’s Englewood District, I’ve spent the last two years listening to residents. The stories they share are not edge cases.
They are everyday encounters: a woman pulled over and berated for holding a phone; a young man followed and arrested for carrying a bag labeled “Glock” — and later released with no charges; a driver beaten unconscious during a snowstorm stop; a queer couple forced to de-escalate their own traffic stop just to avoid harm.
These are not isolated incidents. They reflect systemic issues in how traffic stops are conducted and a deep failure to create policies that center dignity, constitutional rights and lived experiences.
Chicago must do better.
The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability has the opportunity — and the mandate — to get this right. Reforming our traffic stop policy should not be controversial.
It should be the beginning of rebuilding public trust and preventing unnecessary harm. We must eliminate unnecessary pretextual stops, require informed and documented consent for searches and hold officers accountable when rights are violated.
If we cannot act boldly on this issue, which should be the easy thing, how can Chicagoans trust our systems to tackle the harder ones?
I urge residents across the city to make your voices heard as the commission and CPD create a new traffic stop policy. Fill out a form or send an email to communitycommission@cityofchicago.org. Tell your stories. Demand a policy that reflects your values.
Safety and dignity are not in conflict. Real reform is how we achieve both.
Dion McGill, Englewood District police councilor, Englewood
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Thank you, EPA
To the civil servants of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:
On behalf of the undersigned organizations and members of the environmental, social justice and conservation communities, we write to express our appreciation and support for the dedicated public servants of the EPA.
Your expertise and commitment to implementing laws designed to protect our environment and public health are key to safeguarding our air, water and land for people and communities today and for the future.
This work, which was never easy to begin with, has grown more difficult by the day as the current administration’s proposed staffing cutbacks and policy changes would both greatly harm our nation’s environmental regulatory system and the implementation and enforcement that protect the health of people and ecosystems.
We recognize the dedication of EPA staff who continue to serve during these stormy times. We object to unjustified dismissals and the pressure into early retirement that have forced many able and competent EPA staff to leave public service.
You have much to be proud of.
Your efforts have helped reduce pollution, restore ecosystems, clean up hazardous waste sites and protect drinking water sources.
Your efforts to address land contamination, restore degraded environments and enforce pollution controls have direct and measurable impacts on communities in every corner of the nation — especially those most vulnerable to environmental harm. We also recognize your vital and important role in protecting and restoring the Great Lakes, a global gem.
Please know that your work matters. We stand with you. We thank you. And we pledge to continue advocating for the resources, respect and support that civil servants like you so clearly deserve.
With deep gratitude,
Maggie Catania and Maya Etienne, co-executive directors, Calumet Collaborative;
Nina Idemudia, CEO, Center for Neighborhood Technology;
Matt Igleski, executive director, Chicago Bird Alliance;
Brook McDonald, president & CEO, The Conservation Foundation;
Anne Evens, CEO, Elevate;
Howard Learner, CEO & executive director, Environmental Law & Policy Center;
Rev. Brian Sauder, president & CEO, Faith in Place;
Margaret Frisbie, executive director, Friends of the Chicago River;
Benjamin Cox, executive director, Friends of the Forest Preserves;
Brian Gladstein, executive director, Friends of the Parks;
Gin Kilgore, senior adviser, Friends of the Parks;
Jen Walling, executive director, Illinois Environmental Council;
Dan Lurie, president & CEO, Metropolitan Planning Council;
David Kraft, director, Nuclear Energy Information Service;
Michael Davidson, president & CEO, Openlands;
Jonathan Pereira, executive director, Plant Chicago;
Jack Darin, chapter director, Sierra Club, Illinois Chapter;
Benjamin de la Peña, CEO, Shared-Use Mobility Center; and
Paul Botts, executive director, The Wetlands Initiative
‘United States of oligarch men’
Donald Trump’s self-inflicted recession is designed to tank the stock market, so the filthy rich can buy everything when the stock market crashes. And as soon as he lifts the tariffs and apologizes to our trading partners, he and his oligarch friends will own everything, creating the United States of oligarch men.
It’s insider trading from inside the White House! Trump is already saying it’s a great time to get rich, and he’s likely taking tips from his favorite comrade and partner in crime, Vladimir Putin, who is an expert on oligarchy.
It’s sad, sick and all too obvious. The people in Trump’s orbit better start thinking about their own well-being, because he will turn on them once his mission is completed.
Only a handful of GOP leaders have spoken out about Trumps tariffs, but more need to step forward. If they don’t and we’re in deep recession when the mid-term elections roll around, the Republicans are sure to lose the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.
Maybe that is the only light at the end of the tunnel: a lame duck Trump and a veto-proof majority in the House of Representatives.
Louis De Rosa Jr., Westchester