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
![]()
Pressure eases on police oversight nominee after apology to Ella French’s family
Andrea Kersten said the law left her agency no choice but to release a report recommending discipline for the slain cop.
![]()
Incendiary Chicago police union chief John Catanzara faces termination hearing this week
Even if fired from the Chicago Police Department, he could remain president of the local Fraternal Order of Police lodge.
![]()
88 people with convictions tied to a corrupt Chicago cop hope for a mass exoneration
What might be Cook County’s largest mass exoneration comes after 87 people already had convictions connected to former Sgt. Ronald Watts tossed.
![]()
Lightfoot won’t commit to releasing materials from the probes into the Anjanette Young raid
One investigation was initiated by the Chicago mayor as a transparency step. Now she won’t commit to releasing its findings.
![]()
Chicago watchdog submits his report on the city’s handling of the botched police raid of Anjanette Young’s home
The inspector general’s office says its investigation into the raid’s aftermath is complete, but may not be publicly released for months.
![]()
Flawed datasets have labeled more than 130,000 people as gang members. Soon they might be able to challenge it.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s plan would let the Police Board write appeal rules, but aldermen delayed a vote, saying details are lacking.
![]()
At Summer’s End, Chicago Murders Are Outpacing Any Year In A Quarter Century
Through Tuesday night, the city had 524 homicides, the most to date since 1996.
![]()
Chicago To Trim Police Role In 911 Mental-Health Crisis Response Starting Next Week
New teams will consist of a cop, paramedic and mental-health clinician. Some advocates are concerned because the police will retain a role.
![]()
Black Chicagoans Apply To Be Cops, But Few Make It On The Force. Here’s Why.
The city’s inspector general finds African Americans account for 37% of CPD applicants but just 18% of those who get hired.
![]()
Is Chicago’s Gun Violence Surge Due To Bail Reform? Top Cop Still Can’t Prove It.
Police Supt. David Brown still hasn’t provided evidence for widely published claims he made about the city’s July 4 weekend violence.
