Gun possession arrests in Chicago often start with a traffic stop

A photo collage displays images of side profiles of police officers, an individual being detained, ripped pages of a map of Chicago, and a diagram of a gun.

Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons

Gun possession arrests in Chicago often start with a traffic stop

A new investigation finds police efforts to get illegal guns off the streets often focuses on possession rather than the use of guns.

Collage by Mark Harris for The Marshall Project. Source images: Hill Street Studios, via Getty Images; Jupiterimages, via Getty Images; Yuri Arcurs, via Getty Images; BardoczPeter, via iStock; jentakespictures, via iStock

By Lynnea Domienik

The Chicago Police Department has prioritized seizing illegal guns. A new investigation suggests that tactic is not leading to meaningful improvements to public safety and that it’s upending the lives of Black men in the city, who have guns seized at five times the rate of any other racial group.

Reset learns more about the arguments for and against this tactic and what happens when police prioritize seizing guns.

GUESTS: Lakeidra Chavis, staff writer for The Marshall Project

Geoff Hing, data reporter for The Marshall Project