One city’s crime-fighting quandary: Where exactly to invest?

Lonnie McClain was playing video games inside his house on Chicago’s West Side one afternoon this May, when two white police officers came up on his porch. Outside, his 20-year-old nephew, Montae, had been dancing to rap music with his headphones on.

“They asked him, ‘What are you doing? Why are you right here dancing?’ ” recalls Mr. McClain.

“I came out, and I’m like, why are you all asking him questions? He didn’t do anything. There’s people getting robbed right now, people’s cars are getting stolen, people are getting shot, and you all are in front of his face right here when he’s dancing!”

A year and a half after the Department of Justice released a report criticizing the Chicago Police Department’s use of force and racially discriminatory conduct, tensions between the police and community remain