It’s looking like “less is more,” and “smaller is bigger in Chicago.” Meaning, of the city’s 12,000 cops, less than 150 appear to be misconduct repeat offenders, costing the city $34 million in settlements. The Chicago Tribune says that’s what it found when it looked at the more than 1,100 cases the city has settled since 2009. The majority of Chicago’s cops—82 percent—were not named in any of settlements during that time period. The 124 officers that have so far cost the city millions in lawsuits appear to be bad actors over and over … and over again.
But hold up: before the “See, we told you it was just a few bad apples” mob starts to form, remember: the analysis by the Tribune showed 82 percent were not named in any lawsuits; it didn’t say 82 percent had never done anything wrong or committed any misconduct. There’s a difference, ya know?
Something else that was revealed in the news org’s analysis: the lawsuits were not brought by notorious crime lords or drug king pins trying to deflect away from their crimes:
“The Tribune also found that while many officers as well as police union officials attribute claims of misconduct to the rough and tumble of working in crime-ridden neighborhoods, complaints against [specific officers] and their colleagues have often occurred while the group patrolled relatively low-crime areas, focused on quality-of-life issues.”
“Of the more than 1,100 cases the city settled since 2009, just 5 percent were for more than $1 million. Many of those involved fatal shootings, wrongful prosecutions and the sort of brutality allegations that have drawn the attention of the U.S. Justice Department, which recently launched an investigation into the Chicago Police Department's use of force.”
“The bulk were settled for less serious incidents, including officers allegedly injuring arrestees during traffic stops, making false arrests, uttering racial slurs or other alleged misconduct while officers were off-duty.”
Late last year, amid the protests over the Laquan McDonald murder and the calls for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to resign, another call was made. Organizations such as the Black Youth Project 100 and Black Lives Matter called for the defunding of the Chicago Police Department. The groups said the monies going to CPD should in turn be invested in poor and marginalized communities to create livable wage jobs and other opportunities that will bring about true safety, not police. You can view a video of Breanna Champion, organizer with the Black Youth Project 100, calling for defunding on MSNBC below.