The mission was to find out whether those police districts-Auburn/Gresham, Roseland and Harrison were inherently dangerous or just harangued by an unsafe reputation; what residents faced on a "normal" night and what was being done to stop the killings.
Investigative reporter Chuck Goudie, producers Ann Pistone and Barb Markoff, cameramen Rodney Correll and Pat Keating, video editor Annie Esp and contributing photographer Ken Herzlick worked on the series of reports. Goudie and crew staked out each of the districts one night a week beginning at about sunset. They responded to police calls, stayed until after the police left, spoke with residents and cops, followed community volunteers, observed hospital medical teams inside an ER and even interviewed gang members. On each occasion, they stayed overnight-a period of time when news crews are usually back downtown.
The resulting reports were presented under the banner: "One Night in Chicago."
Our first story looked at how residents dealt with shootings as they occurred near their homes.
We then profiled community activists working to stop the violence-many times encountering gang members in the streets, face-to-face.
We spent our third night with the men and women whose jobs are to help the victims.
And finally, we spent a night with generations of a family, like other families across the country, who live day to day as part of a caring community.
The May reporting mission, to provide a more detailed and behind-the-scenes look at life in the city's most dangerous sections, was accomplished. But we plan to continue airing stories that examine what is happening on the streets, why it is happening and where the accountability is.
Just like the battle to survive, we'll go at it "One Night at a Time."
I-Team Report: One Night in Chicago May 5, 2010
I-Team Report: One Night in 'The Wild 100s' May 12, 2010
I-Team Report: West Side Stories May 19, 2010
I-Team Report: Generations May 26, 2010
