Crime & Law
Chicago Has Spent at Least $225M to Resolve Police Misconduct Lawsuits, Just 6 Months Into the Year
(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
Chicago has spent more than $225 million to resolve more than 200 lawsuits alleging Chicago police officers committed a wide range of misconduct, just six months into 2026, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.
The city’s 2026 budget set aside just $82.5 million for police misconduct settlements, and authorized officials to borrow an additional $283.3 million to cover the soaring cost of lawsuits alleging wrongdoing by police officers, records show.
In all of 2025, Chicago taxpayers spent a total of $252 million to resolve 136 lawsuits, according to a WTTW News analysis.
Nearly 60% of the taxpayer money spent to resolve police misconduct lawsuits went to Chicagoans who alleged they spent decades in prison based on evidence developed by Chicago police officers. Reversed convictions have long been the most expensive kind of police misconduct in Chicago, and that is set to continue in 2026, records show.
The latest wrongful conviction lawsuit to be resolved will pay $250,000 to a man who spent approximately 17 months in prison after pleading guilty to drug-related charges based on evidence developed by current and former officers repeatedly accused of misconduct.
The Chicago City Council also voted Wednesday to pay $650,000 to two women struck and injured by a driver being chased by Chicago police. Since the start of the year, taxpayers have paid $45.9 million to resolve eight lawsuits sparked by police chases that resulted in serious injuries or deaths, according to WTTW News’ analysis.
The cost of police misconduct lawsuits is set to grow significantly in the second half of 2026, records show.
Taxpayers have already paid $45 million to resolve nearly 200 lawsuits filed by Chicagoans who were wrongfully convicted based on what they allege was fabricated evidence gathered by former Chicago Police Sgt. Ronald Watts, who was convicted in 2013 of taking bribes, and other officers, records show, and will pay an additional $45 million before the end of the year to close the books on those lawsuits.
In addition, it is not clear how much city lawyers have agreed to pay to resolve two lawsuits filed by Arturo DeLeon-Reyes and Gabriel Solache, who alleged disgraced former Chicago Police Department Detective Reynaldo Guevara coerced them into confessing to committing a gruesome double murder and kidnapping in 1998.
Fourteen lawsuits alleging misconduct by Guevara have already been resolved with payments totaling $142 million, according to a WTTW News analysis.
At the same time, a lawsuit that could cost the city an additional $105 million if upheld on appeal is slowly moving toward resolution, records show.
A federal jury awarded $60 million each to John Fulton and Anthony Mitchell in March 2025, finding they were wrongfully convicted of a 2003 murder and spent a combined 32 years in prison after being coerced into confessing by Chicago police detectives.
Fulton and Mitchell also sued Cook County, and resolved those claims after the Board of Commissioners agreed to pay $15 million to both men.
Attorneys representing the city appealed the verdict, which now stands at a total of $105 million, records show. A settlement conference that could avoid appellate court review and resolve the lawsuit is scheduled for June 26, records show.
Typically, when a verdict of that size is appealed, courts require the defendants to post a bind to ensure that they have the funds required to satisfy that judgment. However, lawyers for the city got permission from the judge presiding over the case to waive that requirement.
If the verdict is upheld on appeal, the city can easily draw on a $200 million line of credit that has $200 million available, city attorneys assured the judge, with an additional $400 million available from a second line of credit if needed, records show.
If the verdict is upheld, Chicago taxpayers will also be on the hook to pay Fulton and Mitchell’s attorney fees, which now total $4.4 million, records show.
Note: Loevy and Loevy, the firm that represents Fulton, Mitchell and DeLeon-Reyes, has done legal work for WTTW News.
WTTW News coverage of policing and police reform is supported by The Joyce Foundation.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
