Tracy Siska

Tracy Siska, M.A, received his Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the Loyola University of Chicago in 1995 and his Master’s of Arts in Criminal Justice from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2008. He is currently a PhD student at the University of Illinois at Chicago studying Criminology, Law, and Justice.

He has been researching issues involved in the criminal justice system in Chicago and Cook County for ten years. At the Better Government Association of Chicago, he worked closely with some of the best investigative reporters in the city and built relationships with reporters from both local television stations and local newspapers and producers from national newscasts like Prime Time Live.

He has visited various communities throughout the city and Illinois researching the actions of various criminal justice agencies. In a three-year research project investigating the actions of the criminal justice agencies in Decatur, IL he uncovered many misdeeds by local officials.

He began producing radio at WLUW during his undergraduate studies. About three years ago, he decided to create “Crime and Punishment” the public affairs radio show that covers the criminal justice system in Illinois. His guests have included the late Paul Simon, Lake County State’s Attorney Mike Weller, Cook County Public Defender Rita Fry, and Shaunta McGee, a legal and medical advocate from Rape Victim Advocates, among others.

Following the creation of the radio show, he recognized other ways technology could contribute to coverage of policing issues. The Chicago Justice Project aims to provoke a dialogue on important issues facing the criminal justice system in Chicago and Illinois. After a decade of research experiences, he has learned that there was not a single organization driving the media and the police into honest discussions about the criminal justice system.