The plaintiffs in the lawsuits, which date back to 2017, spent nearly 200 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted based on what they allege was fabricated evidence gathered by Sgt. Ronald Watts, who was convicted in 2013 of taking bribes, and other officers.

Mayor Brandon Johnson said Walter "Red" Burnett was the best choice to replace his father, who represented parts of the West Side and the West Loop for 30 years on the Chicago City Council.

Even as the financial toll of decades of police misconduct is likely to grow in the coming months, Chicago exhausted its annual budget of $82.2 million months ago and had spent nearly triple that amount by July 31, according to WTTW News’ analysis.

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

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

Ald. Walter Burnett’s resignation from the City Council will be official on Thursday, according to a letter he sent to Mayor Brandon Johnson on July 17.

None of the alderpeople at the sparsely attended committee hearing pressed CPD officials about why the department had fully complied with just 16% of the court order known as the consent decree by the end of 2024, five years after it took effect.

A Chicago City Council subject matter hearing reignited calls for an ordinance mandating bird-friendly building design requirements. “We know how to solve this, and for some reason we just haven’t,” said one speaker.

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.

Despite the study's findings, members of the City Council’s Subcommittee on Revenue, facing a likely deficit of nearly $1.2 billion in the city’s 2026 spending plan, were not ready to fold and walk away from the table.

After the convictions of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and former Ald. Ed Burke, Chicago politics are falling under renewed scrutiny by those pushing for reform.

Chicago’s top city watchdog Deborah Witzburg announced Thursday she will not be seeking another term.

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.

The City Council’s Zoning Committee voted 13-7 to send the proposal to the full City Council for a final vote, where Alds. Marty Quinn (13th Ward) and Greg Mitchell (7th Ward) used a parliamentary procedure to block a vote until the City Council’s next meeting.

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.

The City Council is set to take a final vote Wednesday on Sterling Bay’s $350 million plan to build two towers of more than 15 stories near the Chicago River.