Motive Season 5
Laura Vergara / WBEZ
Motive Season 5
Laura Vergara / WBEZ

Chicago gangs: Real people. Real stories. A way forward. The new season of Motive explores violence on the streets of Chicago and the former gang members working to stop it.

A few weeks before Christmas, a car carrying two of anti-violence worker Cecilia Mannion’s children is shot up. Around 20 bullets blast into the car. Somehow neither of them is hit. But the incident forces Ceci to confront her own violent past and question her commitment to peace.

The incident traumatizes Ceci’s family, and makes her want to get revenge. The people around her help Ceci realize she is no longer the kind of person who answers violence with violence.

Meanwhile in East Garfield Park, anti-violence workers Sirenzo Strong and Vernell Maddox struggle and fail to get a handle on a gang conflict out of control. The failure, and the constant traumas of their work make them question the value of their efforts and the stress lands Strong in the ER.

Also in this episode, Joey goes into the police station to pick out the person who he says shot him 11 times and killed his elderly neighbor but it doesn’t go as planned.

About the host

Patrick Smith is a criminal justice reporter at WBEZ. He has been reporting on Chicago violence, police and the people at the center of it all for nearly a decade.

Motive Season 5
Laura Vergara / WBEZ
Motive Season 5
Laura Vergara / WBEZ

Chicago gangs: Real people. Real stories. A way forward. The new season of Motive explores violence on the streets of Chicago and the former gang members working to stop it.

A few weeks before Christmas, a car carrying two of anti-violence worker Cecilia Mannion’s children is shot up. Around 20 bullets blast into the car. Somehow neither of them is hit. But the incident forces Ceci to confront her own violent past and question her commitment to peace.

The incident traumatizes Ceci’s family, and makes her want to get revenge. The people around her help Ceci realize she is no longer the kind of person who answers violence with violence.

Meanwhile in East Garfield Park, anti-violence workers Sirenzo Strong and Vernell Maddox struggle and fail to get a handle on a gang conflict out of control. The failure, and the constant traumas of their work make them question the value of their efforts and the stress lands Strong in the ER.

Also in this episode, Joey goes into the police station to pick out the person who he says shot him 11 times and killed his elderly neighbor but it doesn’t go as planned.

About the host

Patrick Smith is a criminal justice reporter at WBEZ. He has been reporting on Chicago violence, police and the people at the center of it all for nearly a decade.