Repeated Police Misconduct by 116 Officers Cost Chicago Taxpayers $91.3M Over 3 Years: Analysis

By Heather Cherone and Jared Rutecki

On August 22, 2023

Chicago taxpayers paid $91.3 million to resolve lawsuits that named 116 Chicago police officers whose alleged misconduct led more than once to payouts between 2019 and 2021, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.

In all, the city spent $197.7 million to resolve lawsuits alleging more than 1,000 Chicago police officers committed a wide range of misconduct — including false arrest and excessive force — in 2019, 2020 and 2021, according WTTW News’ analysis.

Cases that involved at least one officer with repeated claims of misconduct accounted for 47% of the cost borne by taxpayers to resolve police misconduct cases between 2019 and 2021, according to the analysis.

A spokesperson for the Chicago Department of Law, led by Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson Lowry, said the department is in the process of launching a new legal case management system to provide officials with “better data and analysis.” However, that system is not expected to be completed until March 2024.

Lowry’s spokesperson declined to comment on the city’s litigation strategy, but said the office is “committed to working with the Chicago Police Department and the new superintendent, once appointed, to explore effective ways to minimize risk.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office did not respond to requests for comment from WTTW News.

WTTW News’ analysis is the first to examine information published by the Chicago Law Department in annual litigation reports, which are now required by the consent decree, the federal court order designed to compel the Chicago Police Department to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers.

Those reports did not contain the full names of all officers, which were pulled from federal and state case documents and compared against a record of officers’ badge numbers, which sometimes accompany civil suits. In some cases, it was not possible to identify the officers involved.

The reports are “an effort to inform the public about lawsuits against the city involving allegations of civil rights violations or injuries due to a vehicle pursuit involving a CPD officer,” according to the consent decree, which took effect in 2019 after a federal investigation found officers routinely violated the civil rights of Black and Latino Chicagoans.

The $91.3 million the city paid to resolve the cases includes the costs of judgements, including punitive damages, as well as settlements, plus lawyer fees, according to WTTW News analysis.

Two officers were the subject of 10 or more cases that led to payouts between 2019 and 2021: former Officer David Salgado and former Sgt. Xaiver Elizondo. Salgado was named in a total of 12 lawsuits that cost the city $880,000, while Elizondo was named in a total of 10 cases that cost taxpayers $770,000, according to the WTTW News analysis.

Both were found guilty in 2019 on charges of conspiracy and obstructing justice in their roles as tactical officers. Prosecutors alleged Elizondo and Salgado crafted fraudulent search warrants to raid homes and steal cash and drugs. Elizondo was sentenced to more than seven years in prison, while Salgado got a nearly six-year prison term.

Three officers were named in five lawsuits, while four officers were named in four lawsuits that led to a either a settlement or verdict, according to WTTW News’ analysis.

Another 26 officers were named in three lawsuits, including former Chicago Police Detective Reynaldo Guevara, who has been accused of framing more than 50 Chicagoans, including at least one woman who was sentenced to die based on evidence he collected. In 2017, a judge ruled Guevara routinely lied under oath. Guevara, who now lives in Texas, did not leave the Chicago Police Department until 2005.

Cases that named Guevara cost Chicago taxpayers more than $39.3 million in 2019, 2020 and 2021, the most tied to a single officer identified by WTTW News’ analysis.

In all, 32 people who were convicted after being arrested by Guevara were exonerated, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. The city faces at least 12 pending lawsuits filed by those who claim they were wrongfully convicted in cases investigated by Guevara, who often worked with former Detective Edward Mingey. Cases that named Mingey cost taxpayers $38 million, according to WTTW News’ analysis.

Mingey was one of 79 officers to be named in two cases, according to WTTW News’ analysis. Those cases cost taxpayers $38 million, according to WTTW News’ analysis.

In addition, WTTW News identified 23 officers who were named in two cases that cost taxpayers less than $100,000. That means those cases never came before the Chicago City Council, which only reviews proposed settlements of more than $100,000, a key method of oversight.

This piece was republished from WTTW News.