Police Accountability
The trial, set to start Dec. 8 and last 10 days, represents a high-stakes gamble for the city, whose lawyers typically recommend settling civil cases involving actions by the police that led to criminal charges and are ruled to have violated department policy.
Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling told the Chicago City Council on Nov. 5 that he was confident that CPD would be able to spend no more than $200 million on overtime in 2026.
The decision by the state’s highest court keeps the system Chicago officials used for 60 years to hold officers accused of the most egregious misconduct in a deep freeze. Oral arguments will take place in 2026.
However, U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer ruled that officers must have their cameras on if a deputy chief asks them to answer additional questions about the shooting.
The Felony Review Bypass Pilot Program was “an unqualified success,” Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke said.
The city and its lawyers will now have to convince a jury that four officers did nothing wrong when they fired 96 shots at Dexter Reed, hitting him 13 times, and fatally injuring him, records show
The Office of the Attorney General told U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer that immediate steps must be taken to ensure the push to reform the Chicago Police Department results in meaningful change in the lives of ordinary Chicagoans.
It will likely cost Chicago taxpayers approximately $52 million in interest to borrow that money and pay off during the next five years, according to estimates provided to the Chicago City Council by Chief Financial Officer Jill Jaworski.
Chicago taxpayers have spent at least $285.3 million to resolve lawsuits alleging Chicago police officers committed a wide range of misconduct — including wrongful convictions and improper pursuits — so far this year, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.
City officials agreed to allow the two officers to serve suspensions of 365 days each, even though the agency charged with investigating police misconduct and the city's former top cop agreed they should be fired for their conduct.
In all, 11 cases alleging Chicagoans were hit or killed during a police chase that violated department policy cost taxpayers more than $82.5 million to resolve between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31, according to WTTW News’ analysis.
If approved, it would be the ninth lawsuit filed by Chicagoans who said they were the victims of former Chicago Police Detective Reynaldo Guevara’s misconduct to be resolved, for a total cost of more than $112 million to Chicago taxpayers.
Allowing CPD to spend unlimited sums of taxpayer money is a “crazy way to run a city,” said Justin Marlowe, a professor in the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, and the director of the Center for Municipal Finance.
A West Side resident, Remel Terry has been a member of the commission, better known as the CCPSA, since it was launched in 2022.
Required by the terms of the consent decree, the federal court order designed to compel CPD to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers, the study is on track to be completed on time, by the end of the year, Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling said.
Four members of the 1863 tactical team named in COPA’s letter have been stripped of their police powers, according to a department spokesperson.