Chip reports on criminal justice from WBEZ’s bureau on Chicago’s West Side. His investigative and narrative reporting has earned dozens of local and national awards. He is a three-time winner of the Chicago Headline Club’s annual award for “best reporter” in broadcast radio.
Before Chip joined WBEZ in 2006, his base for three years was Bogotá, Colombia. He reported from conflict zones around that war-torn country and from several other Latin American nations. The reporting reached U.S. audiences through NPR, the BBC and daily newspapers including the Dallas Morning News and the Christian Science Monitor.
From 1995 to 2003, Chip focused on immigration and Latin America as editor of Connection to the Americas, winner of the 2003 Utne Independent Press Award for “general excellence” among newsletters nationwide.
Chip was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and raised in nearby Falcon Heights. He earned a B.A. in History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
In Chicago, he lives with his partner and their daughter on the Northwest Side, where they founded the Humboldt Park Gators, an all-girls baseball team.
Chip Mitchell
Stories by Chip Mitchell
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Whistleblower Who Sought Tougher Police Oversight Awarded $1.1 Million For Emotional Distress
A Cook County jury’s award rebuffs an appellate ruling that left the whistleblower with $100,000 for that harm.
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Police Tortured ‘At Least 100’ Chicagoans. But City Lawyers Tell A Different Story.
As Chicago’s mayor condemns abuse tied to the late Cmdr. Jon Burge, lawyers for her administration refuse to admit its existence.
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For-Profit Nursing Homes Seek Yet More Illinois Funds While Fighting Staffing Requirements
The facilities oppose accountability measures but press lawmakers for $486 million toward COVID-19 “recovery and stabilization.”
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No Bail For Man Charged With Plowing Truck Into Picnic Because Of ‘Yuppies’ With Dogs
Tim Nielsen, 57, faces four counts of attempted first-degree murder. The incident happened Saturday on the grass median of Logan Boulevard.
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Second Videotaped Police Killing Of Young Latino Distresses Chicagoans
Body camera footage released Wednesday shows an officer killing Anthony Alvarez, 22, two days after a cop fatally shot Adam Toledo, 13.
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Guardian Or Warrior? David Brown’s First Year As Chicago’s Top Cop Pulled Him In Two Directions
The Chicago police superintendent pushed reform while leaning on old-school ways to address violence, carjackings and civil unrest.
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Chauvin Verdict Stirs Chicagoans Whose Loved Ones Were Killed By Police
Four-hundred miles from the Minneapolis trial, its climax prompts anxiety, relief, pain and hope.
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Experts Say The Adam Toledo Shooting Investigation Should Consider More Than Just The Video
It’s not what happened when the officer shot the boy but whether the cop got himself to that point due to a mistake, one expert said.
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Video Shows Allegedly Armed 13-Year-Old Adam Toledo Put Hands Up Right Before He Was Shot By Police
The seventh grade boy was killed by an officer in the early morning hours of March 29 in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood.
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Just How White Is Chicago’s Union For Cops? Here Are The Numbers.
The board of that Fraternal Order of Police lodge has 28 members. Not a single one is Black.
