Good morning, Chicago. Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day.
Good morning, Chicago.
Police officers with histories of on-the-job misconduct are also likelier to have reported instances of bad behavior while off-duty, according to a new study published today through the University of Chicago Crime Lab.
The study, which examined 10 years of Chicago Police Department data as part of implementing the federal consent decree, found that police misconduct was predictable based on an officer’s history of complaints. It suggested that a relatively simple system of tracking past complaints to prevent future incidents could have a public value of “infinity,” considering the potential to avoid costly lawsuits that result from high-profile incidents of officer misconduct.
Payments to settle lawsuits stemming from allegations of police misconduct routinely cost Chicago taxpayers millions of dollars annually. The City Council in March approved payments totaling more than $57 million to settle three such cases. Between 2021 and 2023, settlement payments totaled more than $220 million.
Historically, CPD officers who work in “Tier 1” districts — those of the CPD’s 22 patrol districts that see the highest levels of violence and other serious felony offenses — are the subjects of more civilian misconduct complaints, especially officers who work in specialized, plainclothes units, though uniformed patrol officers are also the frequent subjects of complaints.
The newly released study also showed that while the officers at highest risk of misconduct make up a small percentage of the force overall, members of that group were at “greatly elevated risk” for on- and off-duty reports of bad behavior.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Caroline Kubzansky.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day.
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Like his fifth-floor predecessors, Mayor Brandon Johnson has been thrown a series of curveballs over the past 12 months, making it tougher for him to find his footing at the outset as he’s up against a sharp learning curve in occupying the most powerful seat in Chicago government.
After repeated blasts of wildfire smoke last summer and one of the warmest and driest winters on record, Chicagoans can be forgiven for anticipating the 2024 wildfire season with a sense of dread. In fact, governments in both the United States and Canada say they’re correct to feel this way.
“The conditions are ripe for another bad fire season,” said John Mooney, air quality director for the Environmental Protection Agency’s regional office in Chicago. “The snowpack was down. The ice cover on the lakes was down. If the wind blows in the right direction, we’re going to get hit in the eastern half of the United States again,” Mooney said.
The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump’s hush money trial is set to take the stand today with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and personal fixer, is by far the Manhattan district attorney’s most important witness in the case and his expected appearance signals that the trial is entering its final stretch. Prosecutors say they may wrap up their presentation of evidence by the end of the week.
The future of the nearly two-week old encampment remains unclear. A university spokesperson declined to elaborate on what methods might be used to end the encampment given the stalemate, or the timeline for intervention.
DePaul President Robert Manuel and Provost Salma Ghanem said in a statement that while students are peacefully protesting, “responses to the encampment have inadvertently created public safety issues that put our community at risk.”
Lara Romero vividly remembers the first time she attended college nearly two decades ago, having just given birth to her first child, Salvatore, soon after graduating high school. It took Romero nearly a decade to finish the two-year associate’s program at City Colleges of Chicago.
After eight years, Romero, 38, enrolled in college again last fall — at the same time as her son.
On the third snap of the first 7-on-7 period in Caleb Williams’ first rookie minicamp practice with the Chicago Bears, a quick out route to undrafted rookie free agent Brenden Bates went off the hands of the tight end from Kentucky.
It probably won’t happen regularly in training camp this summer but it provided a glimpse into the wiring of Williams as the No. 1 pick in last month’s draft begins a crash course at Halas Hall to prepare him for the remainder of the offseason program.
While professional sports teams in Chicago are taking a look at new stadiums, and facing roadblocks along the way, a professional cricket team in the far west suburbs got quick approval for a stadium that could hold up to 24,000 fans.
Nathan Leopold had planned to visit Paris in the summer of 1924. Instead, he and Richard Loeb found themselves behind bars and on trial for the murder of Bobby Franks, their neighbor in Kenwood, an enclave of Chicago’s wealthy Jewish families.
In early April, the No. 1 show on Netflix was “3 Body Problem,” about an alien invasion. The final image in the series is of swarming cicadas, and we can expect to see similar scenes all over Chicagoland in the coming months.
