>> Hello and thanks for joining us on Chicago tonight.

Black voices.

I'm Brandis Friedman.

Here's what we're looking at.

An in-depth look at what the Chicago Police Department is and isn't doing to fulfill its reform and 8.

Co-star and director of the landmark documentary Hoop Dreams join us to reflect on legacy after 30 years.

>> It is an amazing opportunity for young people to be able to see themselves.

Astronauts.

>> And a soaring exhibit about black excellence in aviation.

>> And now to some of today's top stories, Illinois.

Republican lawmakers say their request to hold hearings about drugs entering state prisons V the mail have fallen on deaf ears.

>> Since late after late August.

These events have put the facility on extending lockdowns in landed hardworking correctional officers, emergency rooms.

The preliminary findings from an art and other facilities across Illinois.

Our warming, synthetic cannabinoids chemicals found in insecticides and even fentanyl have been recovered in some cases.

>> The GOP lawmakers say the Illinois Department of Corrections should be doing more to protect corrections officers and staff were exposed to the drugs and even consider pausing mail delivery.

They're calling on Democratic House and Senate leadership to hold hearings on the issue.

Hilson residents will have more access to mental health services at the public clinic in their neighborhood formally known as the Lower West Clinic.

>> reason why this clinic is reopening in a big part is because the black and brown communities came together to the mat and >> their communities need it and they got it together.

I know that that is what happens when we act would still it.

>> The Chicago Department of Public Health cut the ribbon at the Pilsen South Ashland, Health Hub to celebrate expansion of mental health services at the facility, which already provided other preventative health care services.

The health hub will offer behavioral health support for free by appointment for those facing emotional traumatic or behavioral challenges.

Treatments can include individual or family therapy, medication management and substance use treatment.

Transgender activists and allies are calling out violence and discrimination against the community.

Advocates are backing a resolution to establish a transgender day of remembrance in Chicago to honor those killed each year as a result of violence against the trans community.

The group also calls for more legislation and initiatives to protect the community while promoting inclusivity.

>> Over the next 4 years, we are going to stand up and fight back.

We just saw.

Republicans.

Scapegoat the trans community for the sake of winning an election.

And I'm here to tell you this morning that we as trans people are part of democracy, too.

We are part of the American dream.

We deserve adequate housing.

We deserve equal opportunity to employment.

We deserve the opportunity to walk down the street safely.

>> At least 36 transgender people have died from violence in the last 12 months.

According to the Human Rights campaign.

The Chicago area could be seeing our first accumulating snow of the season tonight and maybe more wet snow tomorrow.

The National Weather Service says roads could get slushy this evening.

We'll see scattered snow showers overnight mostly before 04:00AM with blustery winds.

Then tomorrow, more rain possibly mixed with snow of up to one to 3 inches, possibly up next.

Why Chicago hasn't made more progress on police reform right after this.

>> Chicago tonight, he's made possible in part by the support of these don't use.

>> 5 and a half years ago, the Chicago Police Department agreed to extensive oversight from a federal judge to address its record of brutality and civil rights violations.

There've been hundreds of court hearings and hundreds more meetings.

But according to a joint investigation from W T Tw News and ProPublica, the record of actual accomplishment is meager.

Joining us now with more our own Heather Sharon and on Zoom, Vernal, Coleman reporter with ProPublica.

Thanks to both for joining us.

Heather, let's start with you.

Tell us exactly what this court order.

The consent decree is designed to do well.

A federal investigation found that Chicago police officers were routinely violating the civil rights of black and Latino Chicagoans.

And this court order in its simplest form.

>> Is designed to lay out a roadmap to correct those problems.

But as you said, more than a 5 and a half years later, the city has yet to address the central tenants of that agreement which require the city to do 3 basics, things one create a plan for real community policing that links officers with community members to address public safety threats that conducts a study to determine whether officers are properly deployed to fight crime and 3 to create a system that flags officers who are the subject of more than one misconduct complaint or lawsuit and gets them retraining discipline or sanctions, OK?

And just yesterday, we know that the federally appointed independent monitor Maggie Hickey shared more information about the progress of consent decree.

Compliance.

>> Cpd has fully complied with just 9% of the consent decree requirements.

We can see from the graph on the screen.

37% in secondary compliance and preliminary compliance.

Only 45%.

just 9%.

That's not in compliance at all.

Vernal who's responsible for this very slow pace of reform.

>> As we put on the the authorities that position of influence oversight of the consent decree have effectively pushed the city its like progress.

There's several departments have come and gone since working of the crew began with or without significant progress.

There's the city council which oversees the city budget, which is not really use its collective voice to call out the slow pace of reforms or are you in the city funds allocated to the effort going unspent?

There's the monitoring team that oversees the create that shes not call for sanctions against city for its lack of progress.

But the book May stop with Mayor John, where Brandon Johnson, who campaigned on succeeding, where his predecessors did not quickly implementing the consent decree.

>> That progress yet to materialize and with proposed cuts in the budget.

It's really unclear if it ever will.

Essentially there's just a lack of progress.

Yeah.

>> City officials they have set aside as you report, of course, hundreds of millions in Chicago taxpayer dollars for this reform effort.

Heather breakdown the cost.

So since 2020 budget documents show the city is set aside a total of 667 million dollars to implement these reforms.

But >> in a first of its kind analysis by W t Tw and ProPublica.

We found that each of the past 3 years the city has left nearly a quarter of unspent.

And that has certainly contributed to the delays.

And we know that pattern is set to continue into this year as Mayor Brandon Johnson is rental site has proposed slashing 79.

They can positions.

And since those big positions are vacant, we know that they have not been making progress on these really important reforms a work setting aside, hold of this money.

So it hasn't vernal.

And I talked to police reform advocate who say that this is really at a tipping point that they are losing faith that reform is at the end of this road and that there's a real sort of sense that an opportunity for reform is slipping away and that's shown in what the monitors, which are charged with implementing the consent decree.

If out surveys show people are losing faith in Chicago that anything will change with the police department.

And even though excessive force complaints against Chicago police officers have dropped overall complaints have risen.

Vernell, you spoke with residents on the city's far south side about whether the reforms have had impact in their real lives.

What did you find?

>> You know, I think they're frustrated.

I think for a lot of them job number one for the city's police department is reducing crime.

But some of the folks that I spoke to said that that's impossible.

That better relations between the department and the communities that they serve and you really can't create that bond when this problems like disparities in traffic stops, some of the other constitutional policing issues that the Koreas intended to address and alleviate.

>> The consent decree, it's been expanded 3 times each time.

Heather in response to evidence of pervasive and ongoing misconduct by members of the Chicago Police Department.

>> It hasn't.

We all remember in Jeannette Young who was left naked and pleading for help when officers raided her home mistakenly back in 2019, she had hoped that the consent decree process would allow her to advocate for real change to make sure that nothing like happened to her ever happen to anyone else.

But after years of negotiation, it didn't.

It didn't really result in any significant changes.

And she told us that the city needs a plan B for police reform because the consent decree isn't working.

A similar thing is happening with the shooting of Dexter Reed who was killed during a traffic stop.

His sister, Porsche Banks desperately wants to stop Chicago police officers from stopping the same from stopping people as her brother was stopped.

But she's not convinced the consent decree is the path to do it.

But ultimately she doesn't care.

She just wants better things in place to prevent similar killings.

We also know that former President Donald Trump opposes federal efforts to reform local police departments frontal.

What does that mean for Chicago's consent decree?

>> I think there are some authorities and people within the administration that are we know with a second Trump administration coming in that there's a chance to clear the slate.

But there's really any number of ways a second Trump administration could make life more difficult for city Hall.

We worship for especially if they come heads over some other issue.

This I'm excited that the new administration could could on certain streams of funding cities.

Chicago Police Department many other barge police departments relies feb.

It wants to provide service and should there be any animosity or any disagreement between?

White House and host Chicago City Hall that funding potentially could be in danger Sparta.

Some sort tell retaliatory effort by Trump administration.

Heather, what happens now?

>> Well, Mayor Johnson is under incredible amount of pressure to reverse the cuts.

These proposed to the consent decree, implementation process.

So we will be watching very closely how that shakes out in the final budget to create.

But whatever happens unless significant change happens, the city is on track to spend in the neighborhood of 200 million dollars every year indefinitely until they get these reforms in place to the benefit of the federal judge, who, of course, at any moment could order sanctions or other punishments for the city for failing to live up to what it promised it would do in the consent decree that the snail's pace indefinitely certainly seems like a possibility.

Hope it doesn't come to that.

Heather Sharon Vernal Coleman, thank you so much.

And you can read Heather Invernales full story on our website.

It is all at W T Tw Dot com Slash news.

And we're back with more right after this.

6 years, 2 high schoolers, one game.

That was the winning combination for the groundbreaking documentary Hoop Dreams.

>> Which just turned 30 years old.

The story follows to Chicago teens with dreams of making it in the NBA in the early 90's.

But what viewers came away with was so much more here with more are a couple of the film's main players.

And by that, I mean, director and producer Steve James and Co star William Gates.

Gentlemen, thank you both for joining us.

Congrats on 30 years Steve.

James, let's start with you.

When you created this film, did you have any idea that it would have such a long lasting impact at the time?

>> no, I mean, it started as half-hour short.

We're going to complete within 6 months that didn't work out.

Thank God and then when it was going to come out, it was a 3, our a documentary about 2 guys.

Most people had never heard of.

Pursuing basketball dream.

And we we thought we'd be lucky to get a decent time slot on PBS.

Much less have it be talking about today.

>> how is this film?

Why do you think it is still relevant today?

>> Well, I think it's relevant for a lot of good reasons.

And and maybe some not so good reasons.

I mean, I think that William and Arthur story is amazing.

And they're amazing guys and their families are amazing.

And they they allowed us in and such a beautifully intimate in on its way to tell their stories.

I think it was a timeless kind of story to tell their their pursuit of the dreams and all the obstacles that they faced as families and as players.

But I think part of those obstacles, which which are still with us is part of why Hoop Dreams still has relevance today.

I mean, the city of Chicago, like many big cities, is still some struggling with a lot of the same issues of poverty and racism and inequity that we saw back then if anything in Chicago, things have gotten worse a lot of the neighborhoods.

I mean, will Arthur's Westside, neighborhood, West Garfield Park.

It's a ghost town compared to what it when we were filming.

There's been such an exodus of people out in desperation there, Marshall Metro High School where he went to school, I think probably has about 50 kids in it.

Now 1700 kids when we were filming.

So and Williams neighborhood has changed dramatically and it weighs are good and not so good.

So it's like to see partly that as well.

>> Yeah, the remains of Cabrini Green are no more.

It is quite different.

Of course, you're referencing your other costar Arthur Agee couldn't be with us tonight.

But we've got William William, you know, considering that making it into a sports league.

>> For almost anybody, it's like a 1 million shots.

Do you think we are still that?

We're still encouraging young people to pursue sports or music as a way to escape poverty that we maybe should be reconsidering.

>> Think we we consider it.

I think it's part of our fabric.

I think it gives us life as a kid growing up.

remember being that 14 year-old kid looking out my neighborhood went to a nice to be able to see the John Hancock building a subtle white lights at the top.

And that's really what dream started out.

Like.

I want to live up there one day.

And that's all basketball as a path to get there.

I think anything I think we need invest in it.

But I think we need to do it in a way that's healthy.

I don't know.

Always the way for look like that.

But I think the drain to make it in life, whether it's academics.

But this f Lenox.

Let's push we have to okay.

Yes, let's encourage encourage the dream, whatever the dream might be, whether it is basketball or any other sport or >> or something academic.

How do we encourage, you know, young black men to consider those dreams, too.

I think I think what you're doing is kind of like what we saw when our to that we we dedicated the court over there and Garfield part.

>> To me that symbolize, let's get back to the grassroots approach.

Let's let's get kids back out on the playground.

I think that's one way to, you know, take the community back We heard Steve just talk about a few minutes ago.

Some things not changed, but I remember a time when I playing that it was actually a safe haven to go to the playground.

I think that needs to be, you revisited open back up again because think all kids a good opportunity to grow to build, be inspired and live out their So I hopefully we can get them back out there back outside again.

Yeah, yeah.

You mentioned that that basketball court when it come back to that.

Before we let you go on that, Steve, you went into making this film.

>> In pursuit of a story about future NBA players.

Obviously, you ended up painting a much more complete picture with teams of poverty and drug addiction, gangs and violence.

Definitely.

I saw some cultural differences between different kinds of schools.

What were the challenges for you as a filmmaker?

Well, I mean, I think part of the challenge for me and my Frederick Marx Peter Gilbert.

>> Was that, you know, we didn't grow up in these neighborhoods.

We were white filmmakers coming into a situation that was very different from our own lives.

I think the common bond for us with Arthur and William and their families was a love of basketball.

You I wasn't nearly as good a basketball player as William or Arthur, although I did.

The Arthur one-on-one he's not here to defend himself.

take what you get when I bring that up.

>> but I think basketball became this common bond, but it also then opened up an avenue for us to really come to understand by spending the time there and spend years there.

>> With their, you know, with their openness to us to, to really witness some of things that we captured in the film.

>> William, I think a lot of people probably want to know what was your life like after the film?

>> You know, interesting It's.

I kind of light.

I think the opposite about kind like ducked underneath the failed and really he hid from the spotlight of the movie because my mindset, when 2 I got a family, need to raise my kids.

Just got married.

So I took life a little bit differently.

But in terms of I can say this now, in terms of that 30 years, I I truly enjoy being a part of everything that who changed up for my life because is open up doors that probably would have not been opened up or easily open up, had it not been for the movie itself.

That meeting that all the life challenges disappeared.

It given us and leg up in life.

Not just me, but and his family.

And I see that my kids now.

>> William, you, spend some of your time talking to young people today.

What is the message that you give them when they're considering pursuing a sport or any dream of theirs?

>> What is the mess is not good picking book from my my.

But my older brother Curtis Di Resta.

So Curtis said used a, don't let the game use use you.

And the thing that I took away from that is and as with all of the people that I speak say, hey, hope drinks at its core at his core.

Just say this and score.

It's a basketball movie.

So are we didn't achieve the ultimate hope.

James, a plan in the NBA.

But along the way, we discover new dreams about ourselves.

We discover new aspects about a sales and it created new visions for us.

with them and let them know that hey, making it and sports making it in entertainment.

The odds aslyum domain, you can't beat the so you shoot for.

But at the same time alone, the way.

Grab all the other things that can help you go in life that can help you build a life.

And as you pursuing that dream watching blossom right in your face, take other take all of life's other lessons along the way.

>> I'm Steve, before we run out of time, you into the film with a sound bite from William saying If I don't make it in the NBA, are you going remember me?

What would you say that the message that you wanted viewers to take away from the film is in about 30 seconds.

>> Well, when when Williams said that the U.S. when he was up at Marquette, I remember saying to Peter, that's the last line in the movie.

And that's because I think William really summed up.

Both the sort of lure of the dream and pursuing the dream, but also an understanding that he showed this limitations and that there's more to this than making it to the NBA.

There's more to life than making it to the NBA.

>> Okay.

And we're just at a time.

But William, really quick.

I did want to mention that you and your costar Arthur, you gifted the West side within artfully refurbished basketball courts.

I know that.

And we're looking at a quick picture right now.

Know that was something that was important for you all to do, especially are working with the young people.

We have to leave it there.

My thanks to Steve James and William Gates.

Congrats on 30 years.

Thank.

Thank And Hoop Dreams is available on a number of streaming services.

You can watch it there.

Coming up, though, soaring high at the Chicago Children's Museum.

We explain.

>> Look up the aim high, soaring with the Tuskegee Airman Exhibit is flying high at the Chicago Children's Museum.

The Interactive Space encourages play as a tool to learn.

So kids can imagine themselves as little aviators as they learn more about black heroes in aviation and aerospace.

>> Had literally thousands of kids and families across Chicagoland.

been able to enjoy not only the opportunity to learn about the science of aviation, aeronautics and astronautics, but to also be able to learn about the history of the Tuskegee Airman since we've opened this exhibit, the reception has been incredibly enthusiastic and warm from no to Chicagoans like John Rogers Jr, whose father was a Tuskegee Airmen all the way young children and school groups across Chicagoland who have made their way to the museum.

It is an amazing opportunity for young people to be able to see themselves.

Astronauts as aviators as people who may go into careers in the aerospace industry and this particularly being anchored and an exhibit around black voices and black history in that field is especially meaningful.

We have seen people want did a rewrite history and make it less than factual.

So to have a space where black children can come and see people who look like them with melanin on the record, not just out in the street or playing basketball, whatever the popular press would like to depict black people is doing but to see them as historical figures going into outer space as historical figures fighting in the military as historical figures who wore aviators.

Scientists true heroes, American heroes.

We say people like Ronald McNair who was on that ill-fated mission on the challenger in 1986.

We also see regular quote, unquote, black faces like the first all-black female crew of flight attendants history us past.

But the future is still to be shaped.

And so this is a place where we want play and learning to connect so that the bright young minds of tomorrow will find their place.

And the story of human progress.

>> Aim high, soaring with the Tuskegee Airman is on display at the Chicago Children's Museum through January.

20th.

And that's our show for this Wednesday night.

Be sure to sign up for our e-mail newsletter.

The Daily Chicago win at W T Tw Dot Com Slash newsletter and join us tomorrow night at 5, 30 10 now for all of us here at Chicago tonight, I'm Brandis Friedman, thank you for watching to healthy and safe and have a good day.

>> Closed captioning is made possible by Robert personal