The Better Government Association is a non-partisan, non-profit news organization and civic advocate working for transparency, efficiency and accountability in government in Chicago and across ...

A BGA Policy analysis of the 16 county detention centers across Illinois has found that only three successfully have completed audits mandated by federal law to enforce protections against sexual ...

For first-time watchers, Chicago’s City Council can seem incomprehensible. Most of the business is done in a routine, rapid-fire succession of votes and gavel raps, punctuated by repetitions of the ...

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 Chicago Police Department is the city’s largest department both in headcount and in overall funds appropriated, with nearly three times the positions budgeted as the next-largest Chicago Fire ...

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 ...

Year after year, Springfield makes headlines for bribery, corruption and even bullying. A report from the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Department of Political Science found Illinois to be the ...

Chicago’s City Council is off to a slow start in 2023: Only about 40% of its time in session so far this year – or about two of every five hours between the opening and closing gavels– has been spent ...

In a memo sent Friday to the Chicago City Council’s ethics committee, city Inspector General Deborah Witzburg laid out a series of what her office characterizes as obstructions by the city’s law ...

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JANUARY 20: A sign hangs outside of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge on January 20, 2023 in Chicago. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) Salaries and bonuses for Chicago police ...

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Chicago taxpayers are on the hook for an average $93.6 million a year for legal judgments and settlements against the city. A Better Government Association policy team analysis found that after years ...