U.S. News

Chicago Has Spent $225 Million Settling Police Misconduct Lawsuits in Six Months

By Mike Harper · June 18, 2026

Chicago set aside $82.5 million this year to cover police misconduct lawsuit settlements. It has already spent $225 million and the year is half over.

A new analysis by WTTW News found that Chicago has paid at least $225 million to resolve police misconduct lawsuits in the first six months of 2026 — more than two and a half times the city’s entire annual budget for those costs. The money comes from Chicago’s general fund — the same pool that pays for schools, roads, and city services. Every dollar spent on misconduct settlements is a dollar not spent somewhere else.

Nearly 60% of the $225 million went to wrongful conviction cases — people who were imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit and later exonerated, often after years or decades behind bars. Those settlements tend to be the largest individual payouts, sometimes exceeding $20 million per case, because the damages extend across entire lives lost to wrongful incarceration.

Mayor Brandon Johnson, who ran on a platform of police accountability reform, addressed the figure at a City Hall press conference.

“Every settlement represents a violation of trust — a violation of the public trust and a violation of the trust that Chicagoans have in their police department.”

The city has been operating under a federal consent decree since 2019, when the Department of Justice found a pattern of unconstitutional conduct by Chicago police. Six years later, an independent monitor found the department is compliant with approximately 25% of the decree’s requirements. Three-quarters of the mandated reforms remain incomplete.

The financial math points in one direction. Cases filed years ago are now reaching settlement, producing a surge of payouts that reflect misconduct from prior administrations. New cases from more recent incidents are still working through the courts. The second half of 2026 is widely expected to produce additional large settlements, meaning the final annual total could significantly exceed the $225 million already paid.

The consent decree’s compliance monitor has repeatedly noted that the department’s failure to fully implement reforms is not merely a civil rights issue — it is a financial one. Every incident that occurs because training requirements weren’t met, or accountability systems weren’t built, is a potential future settlement. Chicago taxpayers are paying for the gap between what the decree required and what the department delivered.