on sale now at amazon

on sale now at amazon
"I don't like this book because it don't got know pictures" Chief Rhorerer

“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America - mentally unstable cops”

“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America - mentally unstable cops”
“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America - mentally unstable cops”

The Price of Police Misconduct



An in-depth look at the City of Chicago and Cook County suburbs finds thousands of lawsuits and hundreds of millions of dollars in payments to police-misconduct victims and attorneys.

By Andrew Schroedter

Better Government Association

The City of Chicago has spent more than a half-billion dollars on police-related legal claims over the past decade.
But the gut-wrenching payouts can’t all be blamed on notorious ex-Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge, whose detectives elicited false confessions through torture.
Payments relating to the now-imprisoned Burge account for a fraction of the $521.3 million the city has spent on police-related settlements, judgments, legal fees and other costs since 2004, the Better Government Association has found.
The BGA also looked at what 132 Cook County suburbs paid for police misconduct-related claims and found a total of more than $42 million was spent over the last five years.
The true cost for both the city and suburbs, though, is even higher, as the BGA counted settlements and judgments, legal bills and other fees – but not less tangible expenses.
It’s important to note this isn’t just a financial issue.
Police misconduct has inflicted pain and suffering on numerous residents, and by the same token false allegations against officers also can exact a toll.
The numbers, however, speak for themselves. 
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.
A comparison to other major cities is difficult.
But the BGA found that New York City paid $151.9 million in the most recent fiscal year with figures available – more than Chicago has paid in any year since 2004. But New York’s population and police force is three times as large.
Los Angeles, which has a similar-sized police force as Chicago, paid nearly $20 million last year – the last time Chicago paid so little was $18.5 million in 2005.
Other BGA findings include:
+ More than 1,600 misconduct-related lawsuits had been filed against Chicago police from 2009 to 2013, a majority alleging excessive force. (An exact number for years 2004 to 2008 was not available.)
+ The city paid $391.5 million in settlements and judgments over the last decade. Nearly 15 percent, or $57 million, went to Burge victims.
+ Additionally, the city paid $49.8 million in plaintiff attorney fees and other costs related to all misconduct claims and an estimated $80 million for defense attorneys.
+ In the suburbs, more than a quarter of the misconduct lawsuits were concentrated in six towns: Berwyn, Calumet City, Cicero, Dolton, Harvey and Markham. Collectively, those suburbs have paid more than $23 million since 2008.
Political leaders in the city and suburbs say they’re working to address the problem.
But criminal justice experts tell the BGA that won’t happen, at least in Chicago, until police address a so-called “code of silence” – where officers refuse to tell on each other for misbehavior – and a flawed disciplinary system that together allow misconduct to prosper.
“Until that changes we’re going to continue to pay out money,” says University of Chicago law professor Craig Futterman, who has co-authored a report on Chicago police misconduct.