Investigations
Cost to Settle, Defend Lawsuits Accusing CPD Officers of Misconduct During 2020 Unrest Tops $10.8M: Analysis
Chicago police officers patrol a protest in riot gear during the summer of 2020. (WTTW News)
Chicago taxpayers have spent more than $10.8 million to defend and settle lawsuits alleging Chicago police officers committed a wide range of misconduct during the 2020 protests and unrest that were triggered by the police murder of George Floyd, according to an analysis by WTTW News.
Chicago taxpayers paid $6.3 million to settle 54 lawsuits identified by WTTW News that were filed by Chicagoans who said they were the victims of misconduct by CPD officers during the protests and unrest, according to records from the Chicago Department of Law.
An additional $4.5 million went to pay private lawyers to defend the conduct of CPD officers from late May until mid-August 2020, one of the most tumultuous periods in Chicago history, according to records obtained by WTTW News through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Chicago taxpayers paid a premium to hire private attorneys to defend the conduct of CPD officers even though two probes found officers beat protesters with batons, doused their faces with pepper spray, used racial slurs and mocked the push for racial justice and police reform. In many cases, that conduct violated protesters’ First Amendment rights and involved unjustified and excessive force, according to the probes.
In the wake of officers’ actions, Chicago faced “an unprecedented volume of civil litigation,” according to a statement from the Chicago Department of Law.
“The city of Chicago is committed to transparency, fiscal responsibility and resolving disputes in a matter that serves the best interest of the city and taxpayers,” according to the statement. “Given the extremely high volume of litigation matters during the period of the George Floyd protests, many of which were complex in nature and required extensive discovery, the Law Department retained outside counsel to conduct investigations, assess legal exposure and defend cases under the department’s supervision.”
Just six of the settlements were for more than $100,000 and were approved by the Chicago City Council, records show. Settlements of less than that amount can be approved by Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson Lowry, with little or no public oversight.
Nearly 65% of the cases that have been settled were defended by lawyers who work directly for the city, who are often paid much less than lawyers who work for private firms, records show. It is unclear how many lawsuits alleging police misconduct have been dismissed by judges or withdrawn. None of these cases have gone to trial, records show.
Chicago taxpayers paid more than $100,000 to private lawyers hired to defend the officers named in 12 lawsuits, and more than $300,000 to defense lawyers in seven of those cases. In two cases, taxpayers have paid more than $600,000 per case to outside law firms, records show.
The city’s inspector general concluded that the Chicago Police Department botched nearly every aspect of its response to the protests and unrest, while the independent monitoring team charged with enforcing the federal court order requiring CPD to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers found the department was “unprepared for the level of sustained protests and unrest downtown and throughout its neighborhoods.”
At least four federal lawsuits have yet to be resolved, ensuring that the toll of these lawsuits will continue to grow, more than five years after protests demanding a racial reckoning swept the city and erupted into unrest, according to court records.
It is unclear how many lawsuits alleging officers committed misconduct remain pending in Cook County Circuit Court.
A lawsuit filed by three people who allege they were terrorized and wrongly arrested by Chicago police outside the Brickyard Mall just as the unrest was starting is set to go to trial Dec. 8, records show.
The city settled a separate case in 2022 and paid $1.62 million to five people who were pulled from their car by seven Chicago police officers and beaten outside the Brickyard Mall on May 31, 2020.
One of the lawsuits pending in federal court against the city was brought by 25 plaintiffs, who each say they were brutalized by Chicago police officers during the protests.
The city has already paid more than $602,000 to defend the officers named in that lawsuit, which would be expensive to settle if only because it involves more than two dozen plaintiffs. But it could cost taxpayers exponentially more if a jury reaches a verdict that finds the city and officers liable for misconduct and civil rights violations against so many people.
That lawsuit appears headed to trial, with former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot set to be deposed on Oct. 15 and Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling set to be deposed on Oct. 16, according to court records.
Former Chicago Police Supt. David Brown, who led the department at the time of the protests, is set to sit for two days of depositions on Sept. 18 and Sept. 19, records show.
It is unusual for such high-ranking former and current officials to be deposed in ongoing litigation, since their sworn testimony could expose the city to greater liability.
A spokesperson for the Law Department declined to comment on “specific litigation strategies.”
That lawsuit alleges officers repeatedly used excessive force at protests that erupted across the city throughout the summer of 2020 — in the shadow of Trump Tower on May 30; in River North on May 31; in Uptown on June 1; in Grant Park on July 17; and on the Wacker Avenue bridge over the Chicago River on Aug. 15, according to court records.
WTTW News’ analysis was prompted by the fact that the Law Department does not publicly track why lawsuits are filed against the city, complicating efforts by the City Council, the news media and outside groups to track the cost of CPD’s botched response and repeated use of excessive force against protesters in summer 2020.
Chicago’s Law Department routinely hires outside law firms to defend the CPD in complicated, complex lawsuits alleging officers committed serious misconduct in the hopes of reducing the cost to taxpayers if a settlement is reached, officials said. In the rare cases that go to trial, private lawyers can often wage a more aggressive defense of CPD’s conduct than members of the city’s Law Department, which has suffered from staffing shortages for more than a decade.
That expertise comes at a significant premium, costing Chicago taxpayers four to five times more than in-house lawyers, according to estimates offered during City Council budget hearings where these costs are a perennial sticking point for budget-conscious alderpeople.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
