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Chicago City Wire

Sunday, July 27, 2025

W.J. Kennedy News

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City's contract with lifesaving technology, ShotSpotter, extended through Democratic National Convention in August

By W.J. Kennedy | Feb 21, 2024

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the company that invented ShotSpotter, the gunshot detection technology the city has deployed since 2012, have agreed to a deal that keeps the technology functioning in the city through September, meaning that it will be in use for the Democratic National Convention in August.

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Pattern emerges of private detectives pressuring witnesses to change testimony in wrongful conviction cases

By W.J. Kennedy | Feb 16, 2024

The latest instance in what appears to be a pattern of private detectives pressuring witnesses to change their testimony in wrongful conviction cases

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Chicago police "investigative stop" protocol has similarities to NYC’s "How Many Stops Act"

By W.J. Kennedy | Feb 15, 2024

On January 30, New York City Council approved the law despite Mayor Eric Adams' veto.

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Law school's wrongful conviction symposium will host advocates, not critics, on what’s driving multi-million-dollar lawsuits

By W.J. Kennedy | Feb 8, 2024

The lineup of speakers at an upcoming wrongful conviction symposium hosted by the DePaul University College of Law consists purely of advocates for the incarcerated who claim that police and prosecutors framed, coerced, and in some cases tortured them into confessing to crimes they did not commit.

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State's attorney Kim Foxx ready to release long overdue documents surrounding controversial exonerations

By W.J. Kennedy | Feb 1, 2024

Under the pressure of a lawsuit for violating the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Foxx’s office has agreed to comply with the law.

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Now free, Brian Beals, convicted of murder in 1988, is well-positioned with attorneys and the media to mount a successful civil action

By W.J. Kennedy | Feb 1, 2024

In mid-December, a Cook County judge vacated the conviction of Brian Beals, who served 37 years in prison for the murder of a six-year-old. Now free, Beals is poised to follow the paths of dozens of others exonerated for their crimes.

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The Eric Stillman case is a case for police arbitration

By W.J. Kennedy | Jan 26, 2024

A Chicago police officer with a sterling record is in danger of being fired by a civilian oversight board, the Chicago Police Board,

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Kim Foxx assistant working both sides of legal system in post-conviction cases

By W.J. Kennedy | Jan 26, 2024

On December 8, just two days after being named head of Kim Foxx’s Conviction Review Unit

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Report: Chicago car thefts in Chicago up, arrests down

By W.J. Kennedy | Jan 25, 2024

Statistics show that if a person steals a car in Chicago in 2023, they're more likely to get away with it than in past years.

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Foxx assistant seen accepting 75K check for 'school project' she claimed never generated revenue

By W.J. Kennedy | Jan 23, 2024

The newly installed head of Kim Foxx’s post-conviction unit recently told a Cook County judge that a side business she fronts

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Kim Foxx praises one assistant prosecutor accused of misconduct, fires another

By W.J. Kennedy | Jan 18, 2024

When in 2020 former Cook County prosecutor Nick Trutenko was accused of misconduct for not disclosing a relationship with a witness, he was fired immediately by State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.

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Judge knocks Foxx's new post-conviction head off case over business that presents 'disturbing appearance of impropriety'

By W.J. Kennedy | Jan 12, 2024

A Cook County judge shredded the new head of Kim Foxx’s post-conviction unit over a side business she runs that connects inmates, claiming innocence, with defense attorneys.

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Post-conviction process in Cook County has Illinois leading the nation in exonerations

By W.J. Kennedy | Jan 10, 2024

Over the past 25 years Illinois has racked up the highest number of exonerations in the nation with Cook County pulling the state to the top of the list

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Former prosecutors refute Reginald Henderson complaint in wrongful conviction lawsuit stemming from murder of 10-year-old

By W.J. Kennedy | Jan 5, 2024

Two former assistant Cook County state’s attorneys named in a wrongful conviction lawsuit filed by Reginald Henderson

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Arbitration a near certainty for cops despite City Council shooting it down

By W.J. Kennedy | Dec 15, 2023

Yesterday’s 33-17 vote by Chicago City Council to deny rank-and-file members of the Fraternal Order of Police the right to arbitration in more serious disciplinary matters

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Council committee rejects police arbitration - but with law on cops’ side battle far from over

By W.J. Kennedy | Dec 11, 2023

City Council’s Committee on Workforce Development on Thursday approved a four-year police contract that includes a pay increase,

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Cops file grievances over 'capriciousness' of who gets voluntary overtime

By W.J. Kennedy | Dec 8, 2023

A group of Chicago cops have filed grievances within the Department over what they say are “arbitrary, capricious and inconsistent rulings” that determine who benefits from Voluntary Supplemental Work Opportunity (VSWO).

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'Sickening' conflict of interest for new head of Kim Foxx’s post-conviction unit

By W.J. Kennedy | Dec 7, 2023

The newly installed head of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s (CCSAO) post-conviction section, which reviews claims of innocence by prison inmates, runs a side business that connects attorneys with the inmates making the claims.

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Consolidate wrongful conviction cases of brothers convicted of murdering ten-year-old, police lawyers say

By W.J. Kennedy | Dec 6, 2023

Lawyers for former Chicago police detectives named in two wrongful conviction suits surrounding the 1994 murder of a 10-year-old on the South Side have asked a federal judge to consolidate the cases.

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Former FOP official praises special prosecutors challenging commission that targets cops with abuse claims

By W.J. Kennedy | Dec 4, 2023

A former Chicago FOP official applauded two special prosecutors for taking on a 14-year-old commission that legitimatizes claims of police abuse