* Sun-Times…

In a letter to [Mayor Brandon Johnson] dated Tuesday and obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times, [Attorney General Kwame Raoul] expressed “grave concern” about cuts targeting CPD units responsible for implementing sweeping changes mandated in a federal consent decree.

Raoul bluntly told Johnson, “I strongly urge you to reconsider these proposed cuts.

“Under the consent decree, the City must provide the ‘necessary and reasonable financial resources’ required to fulfill those obligations. Cutting much-needed resources from the unit within CPD responsible for developing and implementing the policies, training, and oversight required by the consent decree is directly contrary to that obligation,” that attorney general wrote. […]

Johnson’s proposed $17.3 billion budget includes a 45% cut — from $6.7 million to $3.7 million — to CPD’s Office of Constitutional Policing and Reform, which is charged with implementing the consent decree. The office’s staff would be cut from 65 budgeted employees to 28.

Equally troubling to police reform advocates is a proposed 28% cut in the budget of CPD’s Training and Support Group, which would lose 90 jobs.

Click here for the letter.

* WTTW…

Raoul said his letter was prompted by “grave concern” that the “unwise budget cuts” proposed by Johnson would “undermine the progress” CPD has made toward implementing the consent decree. […]

A spokesperson for Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson Lowry said she had spoken to Raoul about his concerns.

“They are engaged in ongoing discussions regarding his concerns with an intent towards finding a resolution,” spokesperson Kristen Cabanban said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Johnson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

* Meanwhile, WBEZ…

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 2025 budget proposal recommends the same funding level for Police Department settlements and court losses that the city has allocated annually for five years — an amount increasingly illusory as actual spending climbs higher and higher.

Johnson’s recommendation duplicates the $82.6 million that Mayor Lori Lightfoot put on the books in late 2019 for her administration’s first budget. The line item covers settlements, judgments, outside counsel and various legal expenses to defend against police misconduct lawsuits and other CPD claims. Johnson has stuck with that figure in his first two annual budgets, even though the costs soared last year to a record $150.8 million.

“That is certainly a problem in terms of budget transparency and budget planning,” city Inspector General Deborah Witzburg said. “If we are going to continue to budget the same amount, knowing that it has not been enough in prior years, we would want [to] have taken some measurable, demonstrable steps to reduce risk.” […]

The $82.6 million in Johnson’s budget seems especially unrealistic given the Law Department’s present caseload, which includes 175 lawsuits tied to corrupt former Sgt. Ronald Watts. So far, the city has settled just one Watts-related lawsuit, a $500,000 deal inked in July. Settling the remaining cases could cost as much as $80 million, according to a WBEZ estimate.

Thoughts?