The Pandemic Hit and Crime Spikes

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During the pandemic, most people were at home and not doing anything so crime went down. Police made a lot fewer arrests here in Chicago because they were terrified of getting COVID. Of course, summer 2020, we get George Floyd's murder at the hands of police protests around the country. How does that go down in Chicago? So here in Chicago, like elsewhere, we had these mass protests. Being black in America cannot be a death sentence. But it is.

Chicagoans feel unsafe, and many blame Mayor Lori Lightfoot. The two Democrats on the ballot to replace her have starkly different views on what the city should do next. WBEZ’s Patrick Smith and Mariah Woelfel explain.

This episode was produced by Miles Bryan, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Patrick Boyd with help from Paul Robert Mounsey, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram.

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