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.
Deborah Witzburg
“Seven years, and we still don’t have the answers. We still don’t know what happened to my son. Seven years, I’m still fighting, trying to find the truth.”
Officer Robert Bakker returned to full duty Wednesday, two weeks after members of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee demanded that Chicago Police Department officials do more to weed out extremists from the department’s ranks.
Members of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee demanded that the leaders of the Chicago Police Department do more to weed out extremists from the department’s ranks.
The 94-page report obtained by the city's former inspector general details lapses by the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Department of Buildings. Mayor Lori Lightfoot declined repeated calls to make it public.
Twice in the past three months, probes by the city’s watchdog have uncovered ties between members of the Chicago Police Department and far-right extremist groups that have clashed with the United States government.
Chicago Police Officer Who Admitted Being a Member of the Oath Keepers Won’t Be Fired: City Watchdog
The Oath Keepers organization is considered by the FBI to be a “large but loosely organized collection of individuals, some who are associated with militias” who have vowed to “not obey unconstitutional (and thus illegal) and immoral orders.”
Allowing the man to return to work as a Chicago police officer will “create an environment of impunity for other officers who may associate with violent groups and contribute to the erosion of trust between the public and law enforcement authorities,” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The dispute over the future of the gang database represents the first clash between the Police Department’s leaders and the commission made up of Chicagoans given the authority to set policy for the department in an attempt to restore trust in its operations.
The interim Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability will hold a virtual meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday to discuss a draft of the policy that would govern the new gang database, dubbed the Criminal Enterprise Information System.
Chicago Police Supt. David Brown said he had “zero tolerance” for police officers who are members of hate groups or associate with members of hate groups.
Both Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Police Supt. David Brown have defended the decision to not to terminate the officer. The officer was “thoroughly investigated” and “given a lengthy period of suspension,” Lightfoot said.
During the Chicago Police Department’s annual budget hearing, under intense questioning from members of the Chicago City Council, Brown said he had “zero tolerance” for police officers who are members of hate groups or associate with members of hate groups.
The FBI labeled the Proud Boys as an antisemitic white supremacy organization and several current and former members of the Proud Boys have been charged with seditious conspiracy for their role in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
The FBI labeled the Proud Boys as an antisemitic white supremacy organization and several current and former members of the Proud Boys have been charged with seditious conspiracy for their role in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
Chicago Police officers found to have committed misconduct face “inconsistent” and “unfair,” discipline, according to an audit released Thursday by the city’s watchdog.
