Geoffrey Cubbage
@geoffreycubbage.bsky.social
Social Justice Worrier
Personal account; tweets are not representative of any employer (but are often nerdy about Chicago and/or local government)
It’s pronounced “Blewski”
He/him
Personal account; tweets are not representative of any employer (but are often nerdy about Chicago and/or local government)
It’s pronounced “Blewski”
He/him
Anyway, sure do love living in a "which armed paramilitary force's helicopter is circling over my roof tonight" kind of country!
November 7, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Anyway, sure do love living in a "which armed paramilitary force's helicopter is circling over my roof tonight" kind of country!
If the name sounds familiar to close followers of Chicago's policing, budgets, or both, that's because we bought CPD one of these, which entered service last year:
news.bellflight.com/en-US/240496...
news.bellflight.com/en-US/240496...
Chicago Police Department Accepts Delivery of a Bell 429, Signs Purchase Agreement for two Bell 407GXis
Chicago Police Department plans to utilize their Bell 429 and two Bell 407GXis for emergency response across the third largest city in the U.S.
news.bellflight.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:05 AM
If the name sounds familiar to close followers of Chicago's policing, budgets, or both, that's because we bought CPD one of these, which entered service last year:
news.bellflight.com/en-US/240496...
news.bellflight.com/en-US/240496...
Seems to be over, whatever it was, with both helicopters headed off to the south.
November 7, 2025 at 2:00 AM
Seems to be over, whatever it was, with both helicopters headed off to the south.
Can’t have our national Weimar era without a little George Grosz.
November 6, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Can’t have our national Weimar era without a little George Grosz.
I'll close with a reminder I give every year: unlike our other billion-dollar-plus departments, CPD is almost entirely paid for with the general-purpose corporate fund.
Out of every dollar spent on the police budget, roughly 94 cents could be spent on any other city department, if Council wanted.
Out of every dollar spent on the police budget, roughly 94 cents could be spent on any other city department, if Council wanted.
November 5, 2025 at 3:36 PM
I'll close with a reminder I give every year: unlike our other billion-dollar-plus departments, CPD is almost entirely paid for with the general-purpose corporate fund.
Out of every dollar spent on the police budget, roughly 94 cents could be spent on any other city department, if Council wanted.
Out of every dollar spent on the police budget, roughly 94 cents could be spent on any other city department, if Council wanted.
That's something the city council should probably keep in mind at today's CPD budget hearing.
In a year where the majority of departments took haircuts, CPD's budget is up again. (It's also the only department to have gone over budget in every one of the past full budget years, 2022-2024.)
In a year where the majority of departments took haircuts, CPD's budget is up again. (It's also the only department to have gone over budget in every one of the past full budget years, 2022-2024.)
Budget vs. Actual Spend: Chicago Police Only City Department to Overspend Local Funds Three Years Running
Explore the Chicago police budget and learn how the department consistently overspends its budget from 2022 to 2024.
www.bettergov.org
November 5, 2025 at 3:36 PM
That's something the city council should probably keep in mind at today's CPD budget hearing.
In a year where the majority of departments took haircuts, CPD's budget is up again. (It's also the only department to have gone over budget in every one of the past full budget years, 2022-2024.)
In a year where the majority of departments took haircuts, CPD's budget is up again. (It's also the only department to have gone over budget in every one of the past full budget years, 2022-2024.)
Unsurprisingly, having masked police in military gear abducting people off the streets all across Chicago is having an effect on how people think about policing!
Police budgets pay for ALL the things police do, and more people are seeing more of those things than perhaps they did before.
Police budgets pay for ALL the things police do, and more people are seeing more of those things than perhaps they did before.
November 5, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Unsurprisingly, having masked police in military gear abducting people off the streets all across Chicago is having an effect on how people think about policing!
Police budgets pay for ALL the things police do, and more people are seeing more of those things than perhaps they did before.
Police budgets pay for ALL the things police do, and more people are seeing more of those things than perhaps they did before.