Stories by Heather Cherone

The cuts, imposed by the Trump administration, will hit the county’s bottom line next year, threatening the ability of more than 400,000 Cook County residents to get necessary health care.

The proposal called for parents to face jail time if their children “violate curfew, engage in drag racing, flipping of cars, intoxication or use of paintball guns.”

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability determined that the shooting was unjustified, and Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling agreed, according to records published Friday.

The jury found that nine CPD officers acted improperly and used excessive force against Ebony Tate, her mother and four children on Aug. 9, 2018, when a CPD SWAT team set off flash-bang grenades outside the family’s apartment before breaking down the door and repeatedly pointing assault rifles directly at the children.

A jury is now deciding whether CPD officers traumatized Ebony Tate, her mother and four children on Aug. 9, 2018, when a CPD SWAT team set off flashbang grenades outside the family’s apartment before breaking down the door and repeatedly pointing assault rifles directly at the children.

Officer Richard Rodriguez is the fifth member of a tactical team to be stripped of his badge and gun after COPA identified a troubling pattern of undocumented and unprofessional traffic stops of Black Chicagoans downtown.

The other winners of the fourth annual contest were Stephen Coldbert, Pope Frío XIV, The Blizzard of Oz, Svencoolie and Caleb Chilliams, Chicago officials announced.

CPD has been under federal court oversight for nearly seven years as part of an effort to stop officers from routinely violating Black and Latino residents’ constitutional rights by overhauling the way the department trains, supervises and disciplines officers.

“I share your impatience,” U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer said. “I do recognize it is too slow.”

Jaime Rios was 20 years old when he was convicted and sentenced to 36 years in prison after being investigated by Reynaldo Guevara, a former Chicago police detective accused of routinely framing suspects.

The study, conducted by social scientists from the University of Texas at San Antonio and the University of Pennsylvania blamed “systemic factors” for the disparity, not the actions of individual officers.

City law requires the Chicago Police Department to provide updates abouts its progress in crafting a system designed to alert officials about which officers have been the subject of repeated police misconduct allegations.

Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American saint, received approximately 38% of the 3,900 votes cast during a little-advertised online contest.

Thirteen lawsuits naming former Chicago Police Department Reynaldo Guevara have now been resolved, with 38 lawsuits pending.

First installment property tax bills are typically released in February and due in early March, but will be delayed by one month by an overhaul of the county’s property tax system plagued with problems.

The debate over how to respond to President Donald Trump’s aggressive efforts to carry out the largest mass deportation effort in U.S. history is the newest flashpoint in the race for Cook County Board president.

CPD is required to implement the system under the terms of the consent decree, the federal court order designed to compel the department to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers.

Mayor Brandon Johnson said the ban was too broad and punished “many of our small businesses who have been following the law and deserve to have a seat at the table,” including those owned by Black and Latino Chicagoans.

The study, which examined whether officers are efficiently and effectively deployed across the city to stop crime and respond to calls for help, found “inconsistent service levels, constrained proactive time, and limited supervisory capacity in high-demand areas.”

“Abolish ICE” is now one of 25 finalists that Chicagoans can vote for through Saturday, with the top six vote-getters winning the honor of renaming one snowplow in each of Chicago’s six snow districts.

Some Chicagoans who had their cars towed by the city could get $1,250, if their vehicle was scrapped, or a refund of what they paid to get their car out of the impound lot.

Taxpayers paid an additional $5.2 million to private attorneys to defend former Chicago Police Detective Reynaldo Guevara and the other officers named in the four lawsuits.

Dominga Flores Gomez, 55, died in the crash that ended the chase launched by two Chicago Police Department vehicles just before 9 p.m. Sept. 28, 2022, in McKinley Park, records show.

Chicagoans “suffered tremendously” during those storms and should be able to rely on the federal government for help, Mayor Brandon Johnson said Tuesday.

Chicago is required to pay $2.85 billion this year into its pension funds in order to comply with a state law designed to ensure the pension funds can pay benefits to employees as they retire.

Since January 2025, Chicago taxpayers spent at least $103.1 million to resolve 14 lawsuits brought by people who were injured or on behalf of those killed during police pursuits, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.