The Freedom From Religion Foundation has put a stop to the North Chicago Police Department’s practice of hosting and promoting religious events.

A concerned area resident reported that the police department was regularly hosting religious events, which it advertised on its social media. Instances include a planned “Testimony Friday” on Feb. 27, where members of the public would be allowed to visit North Chicago Police Department property to “share what God has done in [their] life” and enjoy religious “fellowship.” The police department also held a “Prayer with the Police” event on Nov. 15 last year and appeared to have held several similar events and “prayer walks” in the past, calling one such event a “powerful display of God.” 

“The NCPD’s apparent promotion and favoritism of religion poses serious constitutional concerns,” FFRF Staff Attorney Madeline Ziegler wrote. “By hosting and promoting regular religious events, the NCPD signals a clear preference for religion over nonreligion.”

FFRF pointed out that North Chicago residents interact with and rely on law enforcement officers during some of the most urgent and vulnerable times of their lives. Minority religious and nonreligious citizens should not be made to feel like outsiders in their own community because the police department invites them to participate in religious worship on government property and appears to prefer one religion over others. The North Chicago Police Department’s promotion of prayer events needlessly marginalized North Chicago residents among the 38 percent of Americans who are non-Christians, including the nearly one in three adult Americans who are religiously unaffiliated.

Thankfully, FFRF’s hard work paid off.

The police department’s legal representative, David S. Silverman, wrote back to confirm that the department took the opportunity to correct its mistakes. “Based on our review and legal counsel, on February 26, 2026, the city canceled the ‘Testimony Friday’ event that was scheduled for February 27, 2026,” Silverman wrote. Silverman also confirmed that the city would be canceling any similar programming in the future.

FFRF is pleased to have made a difference.

“When a police department elevates one specific religious perspective, minority religion and nonreligious individuals start to feel like they won’t be treated fairly,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor says. “We at FFRF believe that no one should feel unsafe due to religion.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 41,000 members and several chapters across the country, including nearly 1,500 members and a chapter in Illinois. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

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