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Civic record · Chicago

What problems are increasing in Chicago?

Every civic news report geolocated to Chicago, classified into an open problem vocabulary, and trended as a share of the city's total coverage.

Summary

The civic picture is shifting from violence toward immigration enforcement and street unrest. Crime and violence took a smaller slice of city news, down 6.9 points, while immigration and border issues grew by 9.4 points; demonstrations were the fastest-rising specific problem.

WATCH Watch whether raids, detention and deportation enforcement keep displacing crime as the dominant civic story.
Full category ledger
CategoryNews ReportedShare Change (points)Action RateFatal Rate
Immigration Border2,601+9.42.3%2.9%
Governance Policy7,339+2.93.0%2.1%
Protest Civil Unrest1,879+2.35.4%5.3%
Accidents Road Safety5,528+0.53.3%21.3%
Corruption Fraud1,632+0.540.1%0.3%
Infrastructure Utilities685+0.46.3%0.1%
Public Safety1,622+0.22.5%10.7%
Disasters Emergencies654+0.11.1%23.4%
Terrorism Conflict118+0.141.5%11.0%
Missing Persons1,034-0.03.9%7.9%
Labor Employment848+0.010.6%0.7%
Human Rights Social307-0.13.9%5.9%
Education487-0.31.6%0.2%
Environment Pollution437-0.43.7%0.7%
Legal Judicial3,052-1.037.5%2.6%
Elections Politics964-1.30.9%0.5%
Public Health2,778-2.81.1%25.7%
Policing Law Enforcement10,921-3.510.0%17.6%
Crime Violence36,355-6.925.7%32.5%
Rising sub-problems
ProblemNews ReportedΔpp
Demonstration490+0.96
Enforcement Operation113+0.68
Protest Civil Unrest89+0.53
Detention Enforcement85+0.52
Deportation Enforcement91+0.51
Drug Trafficking223+0.40
Raid66+0.39
Burglary650+0.38
Crackdown50+0.30
Excessive Force49+0.30
Receding sub-problems
ProblemNews ReportedΔpp
Homicide17670-3.65
Shooting2271-1.20
Carjacking462-1.12
Police Shooting941-0.96
Officer Shooting1563-0.64
Mayoral Election234-0.57
Coverage volume by year
2026: 3,405201720263,405
Corroborated fatal events (≥3 news reports agreeing; conflicting tolls merged into a range, never summed)
Coverage MonthEvent TypeDeaths ReportedCorroborating News Reports
2020-01Homicide4909
2019-12Homicide4904
2016-01Homicide4683
2020-08Homicide329–4409
2026-01Homicide4163
2021-10Wildfire3006
2021-10Vaccine Mandate Dispute22810
2026-05Aircraft Crash1579

79,241 pieces of news reported · deaths shown only for corroborated events, never summed

← Chicago overviewThe verdict & benchmarks — ChicagoWhat the record is made of — ChicagoJustice & accountability — ChicagoEvents & specifics — ChicagoThe civic record of Chicago

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