Police and Courts

Bloomington Police have joined a new online community that it hopes will help the public help them fight crime.

Survivors of sexual assault in Illinois will soon be able to monitor online the progress of DNA evidence related to their case.

A former county and federal prosecutor from the Quad Cities is now the first woman to become the chief federal judge for central Illinois.

An Illinois man faces federal murder charges in the shooting death of a sheriff's deputy that led to an hourslong standoff with police along Interstate 55 near Lincoln.

The suspect in a string of central Illinois burglaries was arrested Thursday after allegedly killing a sheriff's deputy in Rockford and leading police on a multicounty chase that ended with a six-hour standoff near Lincoln.

An Illinois study of racial profiling in police stops is set to expire in July. State lawmakers are considering whether to keep collecting data.

UPDATED 3:30 p.m. | A 65-year-old Ellsworth man was identified Monday as the driver killed in a single-vehicle crash near Moraine View State Park.

Illinois State Police made its second substantial cocaine seizure in McLean County in one week.

Three correctional officers at Pontiac prison face criminal charges after allegedly injuring an inmate earlier this month, authorities said Wednesday.

A 35-year-old Bloomington man faces drug-induced homicide charges for his role in an overdose death last year.

UPDATED 4:45 p.m. | Three people suffered minor injuries Tuesday after a vehicle plowed through the front of the Moe's restaurant in north Normal.

As a funeral home owner, Seon Williams has firsthand experience of the carnage gun violence leaves in its wake. As an activist, he knows the roots of the violence run deep.

State Police have made what is considered the third largest cocaine bust in McLean County history. Assistant State's Attorney Jeff Horve said troopers pulled over a semi on I-55 Thursday north of Bloomington Normal for inspection.

Low-income earners can soon apply to waive their court costs in Illinois.

Police are investigating an armed robbery Tuesday night at a Family Dollar store on Bloomington's west side. No one was injured.

The state has cleared a 33-year-old Normal woman of child abuse allegations connected to her dispute with a child care center that spilled into public view on social media.

One man was shot early Sunday in the 800 block of North Roosevelt Street, Bloomington Police said.

An 82-year-old Marquette Heights man died Tuesday due to cold exposure.

Police are investigating whether an armed robbery Monday morning on Bloomington's east side was the work of the Business Bandit.

Two Ford County men have pleaded guilty to their roles in bombing an Islamic mosque in Minnesota and trying to bomb an abortion clinic in Champaign.

The driver whose truck collided head-on with a Normal West school bus last month was not drunk or on drugs at the time of the crash, the Peoria County coroner said Wednesday.

Bloomington Police on Wednesday reminded businesses to make sure their video surveillance systems are working properly, as investigators look for the "Business Bandit" suspected in at least seven armed robberies.

A federal lawsuit has been filed by a woman who claims LaSalle County sheriff's deputies violated her civil rights when they forcibly stripped her following a 2017 arrest.

The attorney for Zandrea Askew says three female deputies stripped the ex-U.S. Marine sergeant on Jan. 20, 2017.

Federal prosecutors in Illinois say a Texas man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison on child pornography charges involving more than 40 girls in eight states, including 28 in central Illinois.

Prosecutors said Tuesday 36-year-old Mark P. Barnwell of Whitehouse, Texas, was sentenced on Jan. 9.

Authorities say he used false Facebook profiles to contact girls and advertise modeling opportunities. Prosecutors say Barnwell directed the girls to send him sexually explicit photos and threatened to post the nude photos online if they failed to send more.

Former Gov. Bruce Rauner has reduced the 75-year prison sentence for a 38-year-old man convicted in 1996 of fatally shooting his grandparents in Lincoln.

Two Decatur men are being held on $5 million bond in connection with last month's fatal shooting of a 20-year-old from Bloomington.