Chicago Public Schools quietly monitored public student social media for signs of gang involvement and violence.

Beginning in 2015, Chicago Public Schools operated a program called Connect and Redirect to Respect that monitored students' public-facing social media for indications of gang involvement or violence. The program began at 16 schools and expanded to 24, covering roughly 25,000 students. It was supported by a $2.2 million U.S. Department of Justice grant.

ProPublica Illinois and WBEZ reported that more than 700 CPS students were called into interventions over four years because of social-media activity. In a review of more than 400 incident reports from the 2016–17 and 2017–18 school years, reporters found that police were brought in or informed at least 87 times. One Roosevelt High School student was questioned after an analyst reviewed his Facebook profile and suspected gang involvement even though there was no imminent threat of violence.

Many students and parents at participating schools told reporters they did not know the monitoring program existed. Of the 24 schools in the program, 16 were majority Black and five were majority Hispanic.

Sources: ProPublica Illinois / WBEZ · WBEZ summary