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* From the Chicago Reporter…
Rich,
The City of Chicago continues to pay an average of more than one police misconduct settlement every other day, according to 2016 data analyzed by The Chicago Reporter.
The city paid nearly $32 million in 2016 for 187 misconduct lawsuits and spent $20 million more on outside lawyers to litigate the cases, slightly more than in the previous year and well above what the city budgeted for these settlements.
The Reporter has added the cases, as well as those paid in 2011, to its Settling for Misconduct database, which now contains information on 943 misconduct lawsuits. Launched last June and updated today, the database is an effort to bring transparency and accountability to how the city spends money on police settlements. In a report earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice criticized the city for failing to make the settlements transparent and recognized the Reporter’s database as an important source of information about the cases. The database allows people to search lawsuits against police officers based on badge numbers, officers’ names, neighborhoods and settlement amounts.
Overall, Chicago spent more than $280 million on misconduct lawsuits from 2011 to 2016, plus another $91 million for outside lawyers to help defend police officers in those suits. The city routinely fails to budget enough money for settlements, forcing the City Council to borrow to pay them and adding significantly to taxpayers’ burden.
Other findings from the 2016 settlements:
· More than 90 percent of the cases ended in a settlement, which means the city and police officer do not admit guilt or liability.
· About two-thirds of the cases stemmed from incidents in majority black census tracts.Read the full story. Database reporter Jonah Newman is available for phone and in-person interviews. Please let me know if you wish to schedule an interview.
Sincerely,
Susan Smith Richardson
Editor & Publisher, The Chicago Reporter
* From the story…
“We can’t keep spending $30 million and up a year and hundreds of millions of dollars over several years for lawsuits related to the police department,” said Lori Lightfoot, president of the Chicago Police Board and chair of the mayor’s task force on police accountability. “That’s an untenable state of affairs.” […]
Police shootings, not surprisingly, are among the most costly cases. The city paid more than $12 million last year for 14 police shootings, seven of them fatal. In an additional 31 cases, officers allegedly drew their guns and pointed them at people, including, in some cases, children.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jun 9, 17 @ 12:12 pm
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If you ask the police, they will claim that the City of Chicago settles too many cases without litigating. In effect, many bogus claims of police misconduct wind up producing settlements for the claimants and their attorneys.
Comment by Ahem! Friday, Jun 9, 17 @ 12:46 pm
Immediately thought of this from yesterday’s paper:
“A former Chicago Police sergeant who served nearly four years in prison before he was acquitted of rape has won a $4.5 million judgment in a lawsuit against his accuser — and he’s vowing to recover whatever he can from the woman.
In 2011, John Herman won an appeal of his 2007 conviction for aggravated criminal sexual assault and was released from prison.
While he was behind bars, though, the city paid his accuser $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit that she brought.”
http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/former-cpd-sergeant-cleared-of-rape-awarded-4-5-million-from-accuser/
Wonder how many similar “victim” windfalls are included in that report.
Comment by Responsa Friday, Jun 9, 17 @ 12:46 pm
===If you ask the police, they will claim that the City of Chicago settles too many cases without litigating.===
Is this snark? If you ask the police they will never say that a shooting was unjustified, especially in Chicago. Even after the Laquan McDonald video, there were still cops saying that the shooting was somehow justified.
I would like to know, though, how our city payouts compare to other large cities. Are we that much worse than anyone else?
Comment by BuckinIrish Friday, Jun 9, 17 @ 12:57 pm
===there were still===
Are.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 9, 17 @ 1:02 pm
The last line of the Chicago Reporter story shows that the Chicago Reporter has no interest in honesty. The idea that pointing a gun at “children” is implied prima facie evidence of misconduct is a bridge too far, without even needing to bring in the anecdote of the 12-year-old who shot a cop this week.
It is extremely likely that at least some and perhaps most of the settlements paid by the City due to police misconduct are caused by police incompetence, failures in leadership, and structural issues with CPD. It is bizarre to me that no one ever stops to wonder whether the City inefficiently settles winnable cases in order to save face or whether the City’s attorneys are doing a great job at settlement negotiation–surely they are part of the calculus of whether too much money is being lost in settlements.
Comment by Chris Widger Friday, Jun 9, 17 @ 1:14 pm
Poor training plays a big part in this. The DOJ report and even commentators on SCC seem to at least agree on the lack of training and the promotion of incompetence in the department. The other factor is a sympathetic jury pool and state laws that make it easy to sue municipalities.
Comment by Chicagonk Friday, Jun 9, 17 @ 1:16 pm
I’m betting those law firms enjoying the $20 million payday kicked back plenty to Emanuel in campaign contributions.
Comment by wordslinger Friday, Jun 9, 17 @ 1:40 pm
“Are” is the operational word. Correct Rich.
Comment by Galena Guy Friday, Jun 9, 17 @ 1:42 pm
Why does the City of Chicago need “outside” attorneys? The Corporation Counsel’s office is one of the largest “law firms” in the State. Spending $20 million extra above the Corp Counsel’s office budget to defend cases and then pay out $32 million does not seem very efficient.
Comment by The Real Just Me Friday, Jun 9, 17 @ 2:21 pm