Crime & Law
Excessive Force Allegations Against CPD Officers Rose 46% Since 2022: Data
(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
The number of excessive force allegations filed against Chicago Police Department officers rose 46% between 2022 and 2025, according to new data from the agency charged with investigating serious police misconduct.
The number of excessive force allegations against officers decreased by 9% from 2024 to 2025, after soaring between 2023 and 2024, according to data provided to WTTW News by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
CPD has been under federal court oversight for nearly seven years as part of an effort to stop officers from routinely violating Black and Latino residents’ constitutional rights by overhauling the way the department trains, supervises and disciplines officers.
Both a coalition of police reform groups and the Office of the Illinois Attorney General told U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer this fall that the significant increase in the number of times CPD officers have used any kind of force against Chicagoans since 2022 threatens the reform effort, and calls into question the city’s commitment to complying with the consent decree.
Between 2022 and 2024, the number of times Chicago police officers used any kind of force against members of the public increased 76%, as documented by the number of Tactical Response Reports filed by officers, according to CPD data.
CPD officers used the highest level of force against a member of the public — including a gunshot, chokehold or a baton strike to the head or neck — 84 times in 2024, more than double the number of times officers used the highest level of force in 2023, according to CPD data cited by the coalition.
In a statement to WTTW News, a CPD spokesperson said it would be “inaccurate” to “characterize an increase in excessive force complaints as a definitive increase in use of force” by police officers, since those allegations have not been probed for accuracy.
“It’s imperative that these allegations are thoroughly investigated before conclusions are made at face value,” according to the statement. “Additionally, it is important to understand use of force incidents as not just a statistic, but very real situations that requires split-second decision making that prioritizes the safety of the public and all individuals involved in an incident.”
In 2025, officers shot 22 people, killing nine, according to WTTW News’ analysis of data released by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. Since the start of 2026, CPD officers have shot and wounded one person.
Chicago’s police oversight board, the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, required Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling to explain why police officers are using force more often and to detail what he is doing to reverse that trend as part of his 2026 goals.
Data for all uses of force from CPD for 2025 is not yet available, but the number of times CPD officers used force against members of the public during the first half the year rose nearly 10% as compared with the first half of 2024, according to CPD data.
When CPD officers use force against a member of the public, it is disproportionately likely to be against Black Chicagoans, even when considering they are more likely to be arrested or suspected of committing a crime in the city, according to the results of a court-ordered, first-of-its-kind study that examined four years of data.
Snelling has repeatedly said that he does not believe that CPD officers are actually using force against Chicagoans more often but are simply reporting those incidents accurately for the first time as compliance ramps up with the consent decree.
A Change in Tracking Allegations
The 2025 annual report from the agency better known as COPA used a new method to categorize all allegations against officers, a change that was made without any public notice and only acknowledged after inquiries from WTTW News.
Between 2017 and 2024, the agency categorized and reported accusations against officers after determining whether each allegation identified a specific incident, officials told WTTW News.
Allegations related to the same incident determined to be duplicative were only reported once, officials said. When there is an incident involving an officer, it is not unusual for more than one person to file a complaint with COPA making the same allegations about the same conduct, said Shannon Hayes, the agency’s acting deputy chief administrator.
But in an effort to provide Chicagoans with the “most accurate” look at allegations against officers, COPA will now report the raw number of allegations against officers every quarter and annually, as required by city law.
After WTTW News pointed out that that change made it impossible to compare data from 2025 with the past seven years, a footnote was added to COPA’s annual report, in an attempt to “prevent confusion and promote transparency,” spokesperson Jennifer Rottner said.
(Civilian Office of Police Accountability)COPA, which is led by Interim Chief Administrator LaKenya White, did not consult with anyone at CPD or in the mayor’s office before changing the way the agency reports data about allegations against officers, Hayes said.
Nor did COPA consult with the court-appointed monitoring team charged with ensuring that COPA complies with the consent decree, Hayes said.
“We made this decision independently,” Hayes said. “We could have explained this a little better.”
The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability picked White to lead COPA permanently, sending her nomination to the City Council for confirmation, where it is pending.
For this analysis, COPA provided WTTW News with data about allegations against officers from 2019 to 2024 that was calculated using the same method the agency used to categorize allegations against officers filed in 2025.
In all, Chicagoans filled 6,371 allegations of misconduct against CPD officers during 2025, a decrease of more than 18% from 2024 to 2025, according to COPA data.
WTTW News coverage of policing and police reform is supported by The Joyce Foundation.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
