Thursday, April 03, 2014

Chicago has spent more than $500M on police-related suits since ’04

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:
Chicago’s municipal finances are so precarious, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has shuttered schools, police stations and mental health clinics to save money.

But there’s one area that’s seen spending skyrocket: Police misconduct claims.

Over the past decade, the City of Chicago has spent more than $500 million on police-related settlements, judgments, legal fees and other costs — raising new questions about the adequacy of training and oversight in the Chicago Police Department, according to a review by the Better Government Association.

In 2013 alone, the city shelled out $84.6 million — the largest annual payout in the decade analyzed by the BGA, and more than triple the $27.3 million the city had initially projected to spend last year.

“That blows me away,” Ald. Nicholas Sposato (36th) said when told of the BGA’s findings. “It’d be huge for the city not to have to spend that money. It would mean jobs and fixing up infrastructure.”

With nearly 500 such lawsuits pending, criminal justice experts say new lawsuits will surely keep filling the pipeline until the city addresses a so-called “code of silence” — where officers refuse to report colleague misbehavior — and a flawed disciplinary system that together allow misconduct to continue.
Yet, many Chicago voters say only the police should carry handguns!