Jennifer Smith Richards

Jennifer Smith Richards is a reporter for ProPublica pursuing stories about abuses by powerful government institutions and private businesses throughout the Midwest. She is a former investigative reporter for the Tribune.

A school resource officer watches students between periods at a high school in downstate Bradley on Jan. 19, 2022. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Illinois lawmakers ban police from ticketing and fining students for minor infractions in school

May 29, 2025 at 7:16 p.m.

Illinois legislators approved a bill to prevent police from ticketing and fining school students for misbehavior at school, ending a widespread practice.

Xander Reed, a 6-year-old boy with autism, was dragged by his ankle down a hallway at Garrison School by a teacher. (Bryan Birks/for ProPublica)

Trump administration cuts may end federal scrutiny of Illinois school where special ed kids often got arrested

May 20, 2025 at 4:00 a.m.

The Department of Education has been monitoring Garrison School because it often called police on students. Now that oversight is in question.

State Rep. LaShawn Ford, left, shown at the Capitol in 2023 with state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, has sponsored a bill that would explicitly prevent school police from ticketing and fining students for misbehavior.(Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Hoping to ‘Trump proof’ students’ rights, Illinois lawmakers aim to end police ticketing at school

February 4, 2025 at 9:06 a.m.

Citing an urgency to protect students’ civil rights in a second Trump administration, Illinois lawmakers have filed a new bill that would explicitly prevent school police from ticketing and fining...

Frequent ticketing of students at Palatine High School, shown in 2022, led the Illinois attorney general’s office to investigate Township High School District 211 and conclude the district had violated state law. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

AG finds Palatine schools broke law by using cops to ticket students, urges other districts to review policies

November 25, 2024 at 12:12 p.m.

In a ruling with statewide implications, the Illinois AG's office found District 211 in Palatine broke the law by having police fine its students.

A police officer walks outside the Garrison School in Jacksonville after responding to an incident at the school in November 2022. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

School district that had disabled students arrested agrees to reform disciplinary practices

September 6, 2024 at 12:34 p.m.

An Illinois school district that frequently called police on its disabled students has agreed to change its disciplinary practices.

A Plano High School student was ticketed for fighting in gym class after an officer watched video of the fight.

Bill to stop student ticketing suffers setback, delaying action to protect families from costly fines

June 14, 2024 at 6:42 p.m.

Top Illinois officials agreed last year that police shouldn't ticket students for minor misbehavior at school and pledged to make sure it didn't happen anywhere in the state. But a...

Former Chicago police Officer Jeffrey Kriv walks to his arraignment at the Leighton Criminal Court Building on March 29, 2023. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

44 tickets, one excuse: Chicago cop’s go-to alibi helps highlight troubles with police accountability

March 25, 2025 at 12:31 p.m.

As a Chicago cop, Jeffrey Kriv was investigated numerous times. But not until an outside agency looked into his traffic tickets did he lose his badge.

Amara Harris, standing near the Spelman College campus in Atlanta where she is a junior, is still fighting a ticket she got three years ago as a student at Naperville North High School.

Naperville stopped ticketing students at school. But it’s still pushing a 3-year-old case about AirPods to trial.

June 14, 2024 at 6:43 p.m.

In the three years since Amara Harris was ticketed for theft over a pair of missing AirPods at her high school, she has graduated, earned an associate degree and moved...

Destiny Sykes, de 19 años, ex alumna de Garrison, juega con el perro de su familia dentro de su casa el viernes 18 de noviembre de 2022 en Jacksonville. (Armando L. Sánchez/Chicago Tribune)

El precio que pagan los niños: Escuela para niños con discapacidades llama a la policía por sus estudiantes cada dos días

December 17, 2022 at 3:51 p.m.

En la última calle antes de salir de Jacksonville, hay un edificio de ladrillo oscuro de un piso que los lugareños conocen como la escuela para niños "malos". En realidad,...

Destiny, 19, who graduated from Garrison in 2021, plays with her family's dog inside their home.

The Price Kids Pay: School for children with disabilities calls police on its students every other day

September 6, 2024 at 11:05 a.m.

On the last street before leaving Jacksonville, there's a dark brick one-story building that the locals know as the school for "bad" kids. It's actually a tiny public school for...

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