Politics
With Latest Settlement, Police Pursuits Cost Chicago Taxpayers $101.8M Since 2019: Analysis
(WTTW News)
Chicago taxpayers have spent $101.8 million since 2019 to resolve lawsuits brought by 26 people who were injured or on behalf of those killed during police pursuits, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.
The Chicago City Council unanimously agreed Wednesday to pay $27 million to the family of a Chicago woman killed by a driver being chased by Chicago police, the latest massive settlement prompted by a police pursuit that violated department policy and ended with a bystander’s death.
Angela Parks, the mother of five children, suffered a broken neck and severed spinal column on Aug. 9, 2020, after being struck by an SUV fleeing from Chicago police while in the crosswalk at 31st Street and Wells Street in the Armour Square community area, records show. Parks, who never regained use of her arms or legs, died 18 months after the crash in February 2022, officials said.
The city’s insurance company is set to cover $7 million of the settlement, according to the agreement approved by the City Council.
The cost of resolving police pursuits has escalated significantly since 2019, while the Chicago Police Department has been subject to a federal court order to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers, according to the WTTW News analysis.
Between 2008 and 2018, Chicago taxpayers spent just $30 million to resolve 52 claims and lawsuits stemming from police pursuits, city records show.
In all, police pursuits that ended in death, injury or property damage have cost taxpayers $131.8 million since 2008, when city officials began publicly tracking the cost of wrongdoing and negligence by officers.
In December, a Cook County jury ordered the city of Chicago to pay $79.85 million to the family of a 10-year-old girl who was killed after a 2020 police chase. That verdict is not yet final.
The increased toll of police pursuits since 2019 came as Chicago Police Department officers began making many more traffic stops while new policies curtailed officers’ ability to stop and frisk Chicagoans.
In 2019, before the pandemic hit, Chicago Police reported making more than 599,000 traffic stops to the Illinois Department of Transportation, a 600% increase from 2015. In 2023, CPD officers made 537,000 traffic stops. Data on traffic stops in 2024 is not yet available.
CPD changed its vehicle pursuit policy in 2020 and then again in 2022 to require officers to “consider the need for immediate apprehension of an eluding suspect and the requirement to protect the public from the danger created by eluding offenders.” It also banned supervisors from disciplining officers for terminating a pursuit.
CPD officers are prohibited from initiating a pursuit when the most serious suspected offense is possession of a stolen motor vehicle or the driver is suspected of committing a traffic offense, other than driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Marked police cars, with their lights and sirens activated, must also take the lead in pursuits, after immediately notifying a dispatcher in the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, according to the policy.
That policy has been harshly criticized as too restrictive by conservative members of the City Council who blame it for an increase in robberies and other crimes. Robberies increased citywide 11.8% between 2022 and 2024, but fell 20% between 2023 and 2024, according to CPD data.
However, the City Council and police brass do not have the ability to change CPD’s vehicle pursuit policy without the approval of the federal judge overseeing the court order requiring CPD to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers. That federal court order, known as the consent decree, covers vehicle pursuits.
Mayor Brandon Johnson and Supt. Larry Snelling have said newly acquired helicopters will make it possible for officers to track and arrest those who flee from officers.
Officer Ricardo Teneyuque violated nearly every part of CPD’s vehicle pursuit policy when he tried to stop an SUV he believed had been stolen and pursued the vehicle when it failed to stop, according to the lawsuit filed on behalf of Parks’ family.
Teneyuque did not activate his unmarked police vehicle’s lights and sirens, nor did he notify dispatchers that he was in pursuit of a vehicle, as required by CPD policy, according to the lawsuit.
It is not clear whether Teneyuque was disciplined in connection with the pursuit that gravely injured Parks and ultimately caused her death. He is now a detective earning $127,620 annually, according to the city’s database.
The largest payment made by taxpayers to resolve a lawsuit before trial in 2024 sent $20 million to the family of a 15-year-old boy who was gravely injured when a Chicago police officer launched an unauthorized pursuit in 2021.
Nathen Jones needs around-the-clock care and is unable to walk, speak or feed himself as a result of the crash. In addition to the $20 million from taxpayers, the city’s insurance company paid Jones $25 million in one of the largest settlements in Chicago’s history.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone| (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
