Of 439 positions in the Chicago Police Department charged with implementing the consent decree, 207 positions, or 47%, were empty seven months into 2025, according to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by WTTW News. CPD officials failed to account for another 226 positions.

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.

Seventy-nine of the 92 cases brought as part of the pilot program have resulted in an indictment by a grand jury or a finding of probable cause by a judge, allowing a trial to proceed, according to data provided to WTTW News from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.

“There are some recommendations that are coming through,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said. “In due time, we’re going to release some of those recommendations.”

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.

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.

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.

“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.”

Less than six months into the year, Chicago taxpayers have spent at least $189.3 million to resolve nearly two and a half dozen lawsuits, exceeding its budget to resolve lawsuits alleging police misconduct by more than $100 million, city records show.

The significant surge in shootings by officers in the first five months of 2025 comes more than six years after city and police leaders agreed to extensive oversight from a federal judge after decades of scandals sparked by misconduct and brutality.

William Carter spent a total of four years in jail after pleading guilty in two cases and being convicted in a third that he alleges were based on false evidence gathered by Watts, who was convicted in 2013 of taking bribes, and other officers.