President Kyle Cooper's report at the January 15, 2026, Police Board meeting:

As I reported last month, on November 26, the Supreme Court of Illinois allowed the Petition for Leave to Appeal filed by the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) challenging the August 8, 2025, Appellate Court ruling requiring that arbitration proceedings for the most serious police disciplinary cases be open to the public.

The FOP requested an extension to file its opening brief and now has until February 4 to do so. Briefing will last well into Spring, with oral arguments to take place after all briefs are filed. It will therefore be mid-2026 or later when the Supreme Court decides the case.

Looking back on 2025, we can see the impact the arbitration litigation has had on disciplinary cases in which the recommendation is to discharge the accused officer from the Chicago Police Department. I want to take a few minutes to give a presentation on discharge cases filed and decided in 2025, and on trends over the past five years.