(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

The Chicago Police Department spent $293 million on overtime last year, 40% more than in 2022 and nearly three times the $100 million earmarked for police overtime set by the Chicago City Council as part of the city’s 2023 budget, according to data obtained by WTTW News.

An online flyer posted in January that lists Melissa Conyears-Ervin as the host of a prayer group, identifies her as “Chicago City Treasurer” and uses her official city portrait. (Facebook)

The cancelation of the meeting leaves the pending probe against City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin up in the air, four months after the Ethics Board ratified the determination that she fired two city employees after they warned her she was violating the city’s government ethics ordinance by using city resources to host a prayer service.

(WTTW News)
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Wrongful convictions have long been the most expensive kind of police misconduct in Chicago, costing taxpayers $29.25 million in 2024, or nearly 40% of the total amount spent to resolve allegations of police misconduct, according to WTTW News’ analysis.

City Council Set to Weigh Push to Require CPD to Study How Officers Are Deployed, Despite Political Peril
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The Chicago Police Department would be required to immediately launch a new study of whether officers are efficiently and effectively deployed across the city, under a measure set to be considered by a key City Council committee.

Chicago Police Department Headquarters, 3510 S. Michigan Ave. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
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Cases that involved at least one officer with repeated claims of misconduct accounted for 60% of the cost borne by taxpayers to resolve police misconduct cases between 2019 and 2022, according to the analysis by WTTW News.

An online flyer that lists Melissa Conyears-Ervin as the host of a prayer group, identifies her as “Chicago City Treasurer” and uses her official city portrait. (Facebook)

The Chicago Board of Ethics ratified the inspector general’s findings on Nov. 13, and Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin now has an opportunity to contest the results of the probe at a future meeting of the board. Each violation of the law could trigger a fine of $20,000.

A protester holding a sign that says, “We’re sick of this,” stands in front of a lifted DuSable Bridge on May 30, 2020. (Evan Garcia / WTTW News)
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The two employees, a manager and a supervisor, “incompetently performed the duties of their positions” on May 30, 2020, when they cited the leaders of the Chicago Freedom School, according to a report released Friday by the city’s watchdog.

Chicago Inspector General Deborah Witzburg appears on “Chicago Tonight” on July 25, 2023. (WTTW News)

Inspector General Deborah Witzburg on Wednesday said the court overseeing the federal consent decree has found that her office and its public safety section are in “full and effective compliance” with all applicable requirements.

Former Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson appears on “Chicago Tonight” on Dec. 12, 2023. (WTTW News)

Joe Ferguson spent 12 years as the corruption-busting watchdog of Chicago government — proving to be a thorn in the side of both the Emanuel and Lightfoot administrations.

(WTTW News)
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The policy approved by the commission bans officers from belonging to hate groups that promote prejudice or those that aim to overthrow the government or interfere with police duties.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot appears on "Chicago Tonight" on Jan. 3, 2023. (WTTW News)

Michael Dorf, former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s attorney, said the board’s decision “avoided setting a dangerous precedent.”

(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
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Even though the Chicago Police Department has exceeded its overtime budget in each of the past five years, the City Council is once again poised to set aside just $100 million to cover the department’s overtime bill in the 2024 budget.

(WTTW News)
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“It is hard to imagine a more serious issue in police oversight right now,” Inspector General Deborah Witzburg said. “Chicago has to get this right.”

(WTTW News)
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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.”

File photo of a homeless encampment. (WTTW News)

The push for the Bring Chicago Home proposal comes as the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless found an estimated 68,440 people experienced homelessness in the city in 2021. That’s a 2,829-person increase from the previous year.

Ald. Jim Gardiner (45th Ward) on the floor of the Chicago City Council. (WTTW News)

Inspector General Deborah Witzburg’s determination that Gardiner violated the city’s Governmental Ethics Ordinance is the “first-ever finding of probable cause in an inspector general ethics investigation of a sitting member of City Council,” officials said.