Stories by Heather Cherone

Before the newly confirmed members can be sworn in to serve four-year terms on the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, reform advocates introduced a proposal to expand the board’s power through a binding ballot measure.

In all, Chicago taxpayers have spent at least $6.8 million to defend and settle lawsuits alleging Chicago police officers committed a wide range of misconduct during the protests and unrest during the summer of 2020, according to an analysis by WTTW News.

Irene Chavez died while in police custody on Dec. 18, 2021. Eleven officers are set to be disciplined for failing to prevent her death, as first reported by WTTW News.

U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer will hold an all-day hearing on June 11 to hear testimony from Chicagoans about CPD’s use of traffic stops and whether the court should have authority over the policy governing when officers can stop motorists.

Ald. David Moore told WTTW News he will force a vote on an order that accuses Mayor Brandon Johnson of having “usurped the will of the City Council and their ability to represent constituents” by canceling the city’s contract with SoundThinking, which operates the ShotSpotter gunshot detection system.

The final agreement calls for 11 officers to serve suspensions totaling 275 days for their conduct that led to the death by suicide of a 33-year-old woman in December 2021, records show.

U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer rejected nearly all of the demands made by the coalition of police reform groups behind the consent decree, the federal court order requiring CPD to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers.

“People put me in charge to change course. And what is very clear, I say this with all due humility, people know we are changing course in this city. There should be no doubt in anyone’s minds that we are moving in another direction. I believe people are up for it. And I’m looking forward to the implementation of many of the things that we’ve already put forward.”

The City Council’s Police and Fire Committee unanimously advanced the nominations of Anthony Driver Jr., Remel Terry, Aaron Gottlieb, Abierre Minor, Kelly Presley and Sandra Wortham to serve four-year terms on the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability.

Former interim Chicago Police Supt. Fred Waller objected to the recommendation made by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability that four police officers, a sergeant, a lieutenant and two commanders should be suspended for six months or terminated.

The Chicago Board of Ethics has fined Conyears-Ervin a total of $70,000 in the past month for a series of violations of the city's Government Ethics Ordinance. 

The Chicago City Council will weigh whether to pay $3.2 million to settle three lawsuits claiming Chicago police officers committed a wide range of misconduct.

There are no plans to use the former school as a shelter in the future, according to a spokesperson for Mayor Brandon Johnson.

The former Chicago detective has banked more than $1.4 million in pension payments since he retired, according to records obtained by WTTW News through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The Rev. Ira Acree, the politically connected pastor of the Greater St. John Baptist Church on the West Side, faced unusually pointed questions from alderpeople, who are under increasing pressure to make significant changes to the CTA, which has yet to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability completed its investigation into the death of Iris Chavez on April 28, 2023, but the results of that probe have not been made public, and no officers have been disciplined in connection with her death.

A spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department said CPD would fully cooperate with the probe, which comes approximately 100 days before the Democratic National Convention comes to Chicago.

In all, the 34 appointments Johnson made between May 2023 and April 2024 that require confirmation by the Chicago City Council reflect the city’s racial diversity, as measured by the 2020 census, more closely than the appointments made by his two predecessors, former Mayors Lori Lightfoot and Rahm Emanuel.

Investigators with CPD’s Bureau of Internal Affairs did not interview anyone other than the eight officers accused of belonging to the Oath Keepers, according to a 30-page report.

Six months ago, Supt. Larry Snelling promised the Chicago City Council he would rid the police department of officers with ties to hate groups and far-right extremist organizations after “stringent” and “thorough” investigations. 

None of the allegations examined by the Bureau of Internal Affairs were sustained, and the investigation announced by Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling has been closed, a spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department told WTTW News.

It is now up to the Chicago City Council to confirm Mayor Brandon Johnson’s picks to serve four-year terms, which are set to be formally introduced on May 22 and could be voted on by the full City Council as soon as June.

“I know he truly cared, not only for his own constituents, but for all of Chicago and for the success of our great city,” former mayoral candidate Paul Vallas wrote of former Ald. Ed Burke, who was convicted of 13 counts of bribery, attempted extortion and racketeering.

Leaders of the Cook County Democratic Party selected Cook County Commissioner Monica Gordon to run in the November general election to replace Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough, who died April 7.

All five officers who stopped Dexter Reed near the border of Humboldt Park and Garfield Park remain on paid administrative leave and have not returned to active duty after completing a mandatory 30-day stint after the shooting, as required by department rules, a department spokesperson told WTTW News.

Mayor Brandon Johnson enthusiastically endorsed the plans for a new stadium, calling the renderings of the futuristic oval-shaped stadium with a translucent roof “miraculous.”