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.

The failure of at least 34 members of the Chicago City Council to vote to reject Mayor Brandon Johnson’s action means the first mayoral veto in 19 years will stand.

Less than seven months into the year, Chicago taxpayers have spent at least $224.5 million to resolve nearly two and a half dozen lawsuits, exceeding the city’s budget to resolve lawsuits alleging police misconduct by more than $142 million, records show.

According to data from the city and Chicago Police Department, total violent crime is down at least 22% thus far in 2025, while there have been 90 fewer homicides and more than 400 fewer shootings compared to last year.

In all, Chicago taxpayers have spent more than $120.3 million since January 2019 to resolve 31 lawsuits filed by Chicagoans injured during police pursuits, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.

For more than four decades, Jackie Wilson has said he was tortured into confessing to two Chicago Police officers by disgraced former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge.

If approved, it would be the eighth lawsuit filed by Chicagoans who said they were the victims of Guevara’s misconduct to be resolved at a cost of more than $95 million to Chicago taxpayers.

City lawyers reached an agreement to settle the lawsuit filed by Gilbert and Hester Mendez midway through a federal civil trial after Peter Mendez, who was 9 at the time of the no-knock raid, told a jury that he was traumatized by Chicago police officers’ decision to point a M4 assault rifle and other guns at him and his 5-year-old brother.

According to the Chicago Police Department, 44 people were shot in 32 separate shootings between 6 p.m. Thursday and midnight Sunday.

Police said a dark-colored vehicle drove past the location and an unknown number of people seated inside opened fire, striking at least 18 people.

CPD reported to state officials that officers made 295,846 traffic stops in 2024. But police dispatchers recorded that officers made an additional 210,622 stops in 2024 that were not documented, raising questions about how many traffic stops took place last year.

The parents of Chicago police Officer Krystal Rivera are calling for “full transparency,” including an independent investigation and the release of all available footage, weeks after their daughter was mistakenly shot and killed by her partner.

Chicago taxpayers have spent more than $189.3 million so far this year to resolve police misconduct lawsuits. For some, the issue raises concerns about the city’s finances. Others argue financial pains are necessary to ignite meaningful change.

The five-hour hearing focused on questions about whether Chicago Police Department brass and officers violated the city’s Welcoming City ordinance, which prohibits all city employees from assisting federal immigration agents in nearly all cases.

“No, it’s not acceptable,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “No one is going to agree that the overspending in this moment is something that we should accept or be OK with.”

According to the Chicago Police Department, 56% of homicide cases were cleared last year, but only 23% resulted in an arrest. Gun violence advocates say discrepancies in reporting and poor communication with victims is leaving survivors without badly needed answers.