A Minneapolis Police Department officer wears a body camera while responding to a call on October 25, 2019. Just a few months after the last remaining law enforcement agencies were required to equip ...

The foundational principle of Illinois’ Freedom of Information Act is that the public is entitled to “full and complete information regarding the affairs of government.” Many stakeholders — ...

Under Illinois’ Freedom of Information Act, there is a presumption that government records are open to the public. Body cam footage is an anomaly. Its availability is dictated by the Law Enforcement ...

The Board of Election Commissioners is established under state elections law and technically is part of the judicial branch, but receives operational funding from the City of Chicago. BoEC oversees ...

The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability recommends candidates for Chicago Police Department and Police Board leadership, drafts and has power to approve CPD policies, and reviews ...

The city’s second-largest department by budgeted headcount and fourth-largest by total appropriations, the Chicago Fire Department has seen less dramatic fluctuations in its budget than most others, ...

As a self-funded department, the Department of Aviation’s budget resources are less dependent on overall city revenues. Appropriations are typically closely tied to revenues from O’Hare and Midway ...

Mayor Brandon Johnson released his proposed 2026 budget for the City of Chicago on Thursday, Oct. 16. As in previous years, BGA Policy will release a series of department-specific budget snapshots ...

A BGA Policy analysis of actuals and encumbrances data from Chicago’s three most recent budget years (2022-2024) found that most city departments stayed well within their annual non-grant budgets. The ...

Departmental budgets for three of Chicago’s oversight agencies are not on their own sufficient to meet mandatory minimums described in law, a BGA Policy analysis of annual appropriations and related ...

A series of new lobbying priorities announced by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson at a press conference last week included tweaks to revenues the city currently receives from the state government, but ...

Photo of the Illinois State Capitol. In 2023, the Office of Statewide Pretrial Services launched a probation and pretrial electronic monitoring program for 70 of Illinois’ 102 counties. It has since ...