Politics
Chicago to Pay $62.5M to Settle 4 Police Misconduct Cases
(WTTW News)
The Chicago City Council agreed Wednesday to pay $62.55 million to resolve four lawsuits alleging a wide range of misconduct by Chicago police officers.
Just five months into the year, Chicago taxpayers have spent at least $144.5 million to resolve nearly two and a half dozen lawsuits, exceeding its budget to resolve lawsuits alleging police misconduct by more than 76%, city records show.
It is unclear how the city will find the money to make the payments approved Wednesday by the City Council, since it has already exhausted the $82 million officials set aside to cover police misconduct settlements and judgments in 2025.
In the largest settlement approved Wednesday, Chicago taxpayers will pay $48 million to three men who were wrongfully convicted of setting a 1986 apartment fire that killed two brothers and spent a combined 102 years in prison.
Another $8.25 million will go to a man who spent 17 years in prison after he was wrongfully convicted of a 2001 murder. The City Council refused to settle that case ten months ago for $7.6 million. The City Council voted 36-14 to approve the settlement.
Deputy Corporation Counsel Jessica Felker urged the City Council’s Finance Committee on Monday to reconsider its refusal to settle the lawsuit because a key witness for the city has been convicted of sexual assault and the “large financial risk” the city faces at trial.
Two federal juries have ordered the city to pay $170 million to three men convicted of murders they did not commit in recent months, setting a new standard for verdicts in wrongful conviction cases.
Chicago taxpayers have now spent more than $184.7 million since January 2019 to resolve lawsuits brought by more than three dozen people who were wrongfully convicted based on evidence gathered by the Chicago Police Department, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.
In a separate action, the City Council voted 36-13 to pay $5 million to a woman who lost both legs to frostbite after Chicago police officers ignored her pleas for help after getting locked out of her apartment in 2021.
In the final case, Chicago taxpayers will pay $1.2 million to a man who was framed three times by convicted former Chicago Police Sgt. Ronald Watts.
Leonard Gipson was one of 15 men convicted by Watts to be exonerated by a judge in 2017 as part of the only mass exoneration in Cook County history.
In all, Chicago taxpayers have paid $9.2 million to three men who were also framed by Watts.
Between 2016 and September 2024, Chicago taxpayers paid more than $11.2 million to defend Watts.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
