Stories by Jared Rutecki

In all, Chicago taxpayers spent $285.8 million on overtime for members of the Chicago Police Department during 2025, 5.6% less than the previous year, according to the data.

Officers made an average of 732 traffic stops every day for an entire year that were not documented as required by CPD policy and state law, according to data from the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Circuit Court Judge Adrienne Davis is weighing whether to overturn the conviction of Anthony Garrett in connection with the murder of 7-year-old Dantrell Davis, who was shot and killed by a sniper at Cabrini-Green in 1992 as he and his mother walked to school.

Chicago taxpayers paid $295 million between 2019 and 2024 to resolve lawsuits naming officers whose alleged misconduct led more than once to payouts, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News. In all, the city spent $491.7 million to resolve lawsuits alleging 1,643 Chicago police officers committed a wide range of misconduct.

Burnett represented parts of the West Side and the West Loop for 30 years on the Chicago City Council. He retired July 31.

The amount of taxpayer funds spent on overtime by all city departments, including CPD, dropped in 2024 for the first time since 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic upended the city’s operations.

Kat Abughazaleh’s campaign reported just $3,250 in contributions of more than $200 from people who live in the 9th Congressional District, less than 1% of the total amount raised by the campaign, federal records show.

“This is still very much a frustration I have,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “I’ve been in conversations with the superintendent, with our budget director to come up with better systems.”

The city is on pace to spend at least $258 million on police overtime by the end of the year, even as officials imposed limits on overtime for all city departments, except for police and the Chicago Fire Department, amid a massive budget crunch.

Will Fletcher, who took over as the school district’s watchdog in 2020, resigned last week with nearly two years left in his term.

As the Democratic National Convention continues for a fourth and final day, there have been a total of 72 arrests related to First Amendment activities since Monday, according to the DNC 2024 Joint Information Center.

Cases that involved at least one officer with repeated claims of misconduct accounted for nearly 43% of the $384.2 million paid by taxpayers to resolve police misconduct cases between 2019 and 2023, according to the analysis.

The board of the Municipal Employees’ Annuity & Benefit Fund of Chicago voted at its June meeting to suspend the former alderperson’s pension once he was sentenced on 13 counts of racketeering, attempted extortion and attempted bribery.

The initial turnout tally was at just 20.2% of the nearly 1.7 million registered voters — including early voting and vote-by-mail ballots.

“This has been a situation that has gotten increasingly out of control,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said about the massive bills for police overtime. “The superintendent and I, we both agree on that.”

The Chicago Police Department spent $293 million on overtime last year, 40% more than in 2022 and nearly three times the $100 million earmarked for police overtime set by the Chicago City Council as part of the city’s 2023 budget, according to data obtained by WTTW News.

Cases that involved at least one officer with repeated claims of misconduct accounted for 60% of the cost borne by taxpayers to resolve police misconduct cases between 2019 and 2022, according to the analysis by WTTW News.

Chicago spent $197.7 million to resolve lawsuits alleging more than 1,000 Chicago police officers committed a wide range of misconduct in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Of that total, $91.3 million came from settlements involving 116 officers whose conduct led to multiple payouts.

It took less than five months for the Chicago Police Department to exhaust the $100 million earmarked for overtime set by the Chicago City Council as part of the city’s 2023 budget, according to data obtained by WTTW News through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Former Ald. Ed Burke will start receiving pension payments of $8,027 per month in August, and they will continue for the rest of his life, according to records obtained by WTTW News from the Municipal Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago.

Former Ald. CarrieAustin is now receiving more than $9,500 per month in pension payments for the rest of her life, according to records obtained by WTTW News from the Municipal Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago. If Austin is convicted, she could lose her pension, since her conduct occurred as part of her official duties as an alderperson.

The Chicago Police Department spent at least $210.5 million on overtime, 56% more than in 2021 and more than double the $100 million earmarked for police overtime set by the Chicago City Council as part of the city’s 2022 budget, according to data obtained by WTTW News.