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Mayor Brandon Johnson’s nearly $2.1 billion CPD budget does not account for pensions, benefits or vastly underbudgeted spending on overtime and legal defense, according to Jonathan Silverstein, who left the Council Office of Financial Analysis in 2020. Chicago appears to spend $784 per capita for policing, but factoring in the hidden costs, the figure increases to $1,433 per person, he said. SIGN UP HERE FOR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER
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Audio and summary Why the Holdup Using Artificial Intelligence to Cut Illinois Government Costs? – Wirepoints
May 19, 2026
8 Comments
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.
Note to readers from Mark Glennon re: Ukraine
May 6, 2026
4 Comments
Everybody needs a side hustle these days, and mine is Ukraine, where I am now.
Wirepoints’ Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer – Chicago’s struggling commercial real estate and more
April 22, 2026
5 Comments
Summary and audio linked here.
Audio and summary
Huh, that’s odd: a Chicago or IL cost estimate that’s grossly underestimated.
The picture speaks a thousand words: “Man I wish I was rid of the po-lice except for the 116 on my security detail “ says Panicky, his beaming smile and outstretched arms when he was elected now just a faint memory.
The simple solution is to remove police from Wards where the Alderman doesn’t want a police present or do not allow pro active policing in the areas where police are not wanted. Instead of patrols or responding police have the residents go to the station and make a report. If it’s a domestic dispute the city should provide a counseling team of “trained professionals” to respond, no cops involved. Fire department requests for a police presence would be one of the few reasons to have police on scene. Murder? Coroners job to do the investigation and turn their report over… Read more »
Another solution is to put criminals in jail and keep them there. Police don’t have to keep rearresting the same people over and over again. Prosecute them and take them out of society. Allow the Police to do their jobs and enforce the law and the law of the street.
OR, everyone could just obey the laws, then the police expense could be greatly reduced.