Crime & Law
Growing Cost of Chicago Police Misconduct Lawsuits Sparks Debate
Chicago taxpayers have spent more than $189.3 million so far this year to resolve police misconduct lawsuits. That’s compared to $107.5 million for all of last year.
For some, the issue raises concerns about the city’s finances. Others argue financial pains are necessary to ignite meaningful change.
In a recent op-ed published in the Chicago Tribune, Paul Vallas, senior fellow at the Illinois Policy Institute and former candidate for Chicago mayor, argued settlements and verdicts for police misconduct are threatening the city’s financial stability and its ability to provide essential services.
“I think the city’s paid $1.1 billion since 2010 in lawsuits, about $700 million in lawsuits that were paid on police lawsuits, and particularly did not involve proving the individuals were innocent, rather was associated with police misconduct,” Vallas said. “The 200 cases in the pipeline right now that could cost the city, if past patterns suggest, could cost the city anywhere from $1 billion to as much as $2 billion in taxpayer-funded settlements.”
Chicago taxpayers have spent nearly $207 million since January 2019 to resolve 55 lawsuits brought by people who were wrongfully convicted. Attorneys affiliated with representing victims of wrongful convictions argue solving the problem requires closer examination of police misconduct as a whole.
Last month, the Chicago City Council agreed taxpayers will pay $14.75 million to James Gibson, a man who spent more than 29 years in prison after being convicted of a double murder he did not commit. After the vote, Gibson’s attorney, Andrew Stroth, said in a news conference Chicago is the wrongful conviction capital of America.
In response to Vallas’ op-ed, civil rights attorney Antonio Romanucci, who represented George Floyd’s family and other families impacted by police misconduct, argued financial pains are necessary to ignite meaningful change.
“If we don’t fix the policing problem first, then what we’re going to continue to see are problems that develop over decades,” Romanucci said. “The city of Chicago has not addressed these problems, even under the current consent decree that they’re cooperating with. We’re not going fast enough. We’re not doing enough.”
Reports show by the end of 2024 the Chicago Police Department had fully complied with 16% of the consent decree, which went into effect in 2019.
Vallas argued the current consent decree will likely generate more litigation due to its mandates and oversight requirements. He suggested five reform proposals to decrease settlement spending: public education and judicial awareness; federal damage caps; reform of the state’s certificate of innocence statute; pursuing civil claims against fraudulent lawsuits; and establishing a special litigation division within the Law Department.
Romanucci argued the list offers no suggestions to improve policing, training or transparency to increase trust between communities and CPD.
“You have to start with training,” Romanucci said. “It has to start with the bare bones, basics. A lot of agencies across the United States do not train like they should, and they don’t continue the training because it costs money. It’s expensive. But guess what is more expensive? The problems that come from lack of training.”
WTTW News coverage of policing and police reform is supported by The Joyce Foundation.
