|
“The level and the number of payouts that Chicago taxpayers
underwrite each year for officer misconduct, officer abuse,
officers breaking protocol really reflects the fact that we need
to make an investment in the city in reforming police training
and accountability,” Yohnka told The Center Square. “What we see
is a system where the system literally allows misbehavior until
it costs the city millions of dollars, rather than insisting on
good constitutional behavior.”
City data shows taxpayers in 2024 were forced to shell out at
least $107.5 million to settle lawsuits against officers
alleging misconduct that ranged from wrongful convictions to
improper pursuits. In addition to being the most taxpayers have
been left on the hook for in any year since 2011, the total also
represents a 43% increase over 2023, easily topping the $82
million annually set aside by the city to resolve such cases.
Even as the Chicago Police Department has been subject to a
federal court order to change the way it trains, supervises and
disciplines officers since 2019, over the past five years,
taxpayers have spent at least $472.4 million to resolve such
lawsuits as the department has fully satisfied just 9% of the
requirements laid out for it as part of a consent decree.
“I think what taxpayers ought to feel is a sense of missed
opportunity because the city spends so much time engaged in
litigation, in putting together the resources to pay out these
things that what we don't focus enough on is ways in which we
can police the streets of the city in a constitutional fashion
that also enhances public safety,” Yohnka added. “It would be
helpful if in fact there was simply more investment in real
reform upfront. We'd be paying less of these kinds of damages on
the back end.”
Yohnka argues the city already has at least some of the answers
it should be seeking.
“There is a multi-hundred page document, a consent decree, that
is literally a roadmap for reform,” he said. “It really,
fundamentally breaks down to two things, supervising and holding
officers accountable for when they violate rules. The second
thing is to meaningfully engage the public in helping to address
the problems of every neighborhood. It's going to look different
in one neighborhood as to how they should be policed, want to be
policed, need to be policed, then it's going to look in
another.”
In 2024, city officials resolved at least 122 police misconduct
lawsuits with the largest payout for a single incident being $20
million paid to a 15-year-old boy injured in a 2021 unauthorized
chase incident.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights
reserved |
|
