Thursday, June 25, 2009
News / Clout City Lawyers, cops, and money
Posted by Mick Dumke on 06.25.09 at 04:41 PM
Mayor Daley’s chief financial officer, Gene Saffold, called a press conference this afternoon to talk about layoffs to help plug the city’s latest gaping budget hole. This follows two days of meetings Daley aides held with aldermen to try to assuage their concerns—without actually providing details—about the mayor appearing to hand the International Olympic Committee a blank check to pay for the 2016 games.
As the administration and City Council look for "creative" solutions to our money problems, they might want to take a close look at one of the city’s rising outflows of cash: lawsuit payouts and legal fees.
Last fall I reported that Chicago has been paying more in legal settlements and judgments than LA, Houston, Phoenix, Philly, and Dallas combined. From the beginning of 2005 through the middle of last year, Chicago paid out nearly $230 million. Los Angeles, which has a million more residents, paid out about $77 million in that time. The vast majority of Chicago’s payments were for lawsuits involving the police department.
The city has since released data for the second half of 2008, and a little number crunching shows that while the pace of payouts may be slowing, taxpayers are still spending piles of money on these legal expenses:
- From July through December of last year, the city spent nearly $27 million to close lawsuits. That’s down from the breathtaking $103 million paid out the first half of 2008, but it’s hard to call it great news, since as recently as 2005 the total was about $34 million for the entire year.
- Of the $130 million tab for 2008, $78 million, or about 61 percent, went toward police-related suits.
- The next-highest sums covered lawsuits against the fire ($23 million) and transportation ($13 million) departments. Another $12 million was spent to settle claims related to the Shakman consent decrees, court-ordered bans on political hiring and firing.
- All told, the city paid out more than $256 million in settlements and judgments from 2005 through 2008, including $172 million for police-related suits. The annual totals rose each year.
- On top of those figures, the city spent $52 million during that time to pay fees to private-sector attorneys who worked on some of the cases. Almost $37 million of that money was used on suits involving the police.
- Preliminary data released by the city suggest 2009 should be less costly than 2008 but significantly more expensive than previous years. Through the end of April, the city had spent about $18 million on lawsuits. If that rate holds steady through the rest of the year, the 2009 total would hit $54 million—the second-highest ever, behind last year.
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| TOTAL PAYOUTS | POLICE PAYOUTS | OUTSIDE COUNSEL COSTS |
| 2005 | $ 33,843,218 | $ 22,704,681 | $ 12,449,120 |
| 2006 | $ 48,015,706 | $ 33,499,150 | $ 11,513,958 |
| 2007 | $ 44,731,829 | $ 37,146,953 | $ 12,640,506 |
| 2008 | $ 129,670,874 | $ 78,727,632 | $ 15,666,458 |
| TOTAL | $ 256,261,627 | $ 172,078,416 | $ 52,270,042 |
Comments (68)
Showing 1-50 of 68
That's nice, Mick, now how about digging into who the lawyers are that file these lawsuits, how many are bogus on their face, but are 'settled' anyway, whose political campaigns do these 'litigators' contribute to, and how much, exactly how the newly formed IPRA conducts their 'investigations' into allegations of police 'brutality', said 'investigations' being the foundation for most of these bogus lawsuits, and exactly who gets the taxpayers monies from these 'settlements' and what the amounts and breakdowns of lawyer/litigant are? If you and Ben think TIF'S are effective at pilfering the taxpayers dollars, dig up the dirt on the pilfering going on with the city's 'legal department's' unsupportable settling of bogus lawsuits. You're a reporter, not an accountant, right?
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If you guys want corruption then we must pay. I told Daley and his crew... stupid and incompetent is not the way to go through life. If want to live in a cess pool Dig Deep you pay for that privilege.
The reason the police lawsuits are down is because they are sick of playing the liberal game. Proactive police works, everyone knows that. It keeps the gangs at bay. However, the liberals aim charges of racism against poor black folk and file frivolous lawsuits. Reactive police work draw claims of not caring enough about poor black folk. Either way the police lose. They are getting tired of it. There is no happy middle. The liberals and the race baiter and the poverty pimps will NEVER be happy.
Chicag's new class of Rich and Famous, I hope they move into rich's nieghboorhood after gettin paid.
All lawsuits brought against the city are not frivolous. Public officials should be jailed who committ crimes. The city stands behind its corruption,and so do its Citizens. Therefore, corruption is not cheap. The reason the settles many cases instead of going to trial,to avoid exposing its corrupt infrastructure.
Well if the cops weren't being fat, arrogant, drunk, powermongering assholes, maybe there wouldn't be as many lawsuits against the CPD, right?
I have an idea, each police officer found liable in any lawsuit should have their pay docked until the money is paid back or they should be fired. These people have no conscious and take shit to the extreme and of course the boss Daley has no control of the department. RE: joe form chi Police are tired of what? So they get frustrated at political pressures, go out and take it out on fellow citizens who they should be protecting? Daley is right on holding out on that contract, they deserve nothing, they don't appreciate shit and feel entitlement riding around in cars, eating donuts and writing bogus tickets most of the day. The officers are illiterate and were hired from guess what? PATRONAGE!
re: Blah Blah June 26th - 9:06 a.m. & Pilsen Dude June 26th - 9:20 a.m. & The Socialist June 26th - 9:27 a.m. Now go get da mare his morning enema.
Lets see how you feel,if a fat,drunken piece of shit Cop stomps the shit out your sister,and nothling happens,to him.
So much for 'To Serve And Protect'. The Police protect their own, not us citizens!
These lawyers blatantly lie on the complaints. Their clients are nothing more then a career criminal that out and out lies about every thing they claim happened. 99% of these criminals perjure themselves with the lies they spew. But, this is chicago and the politicians worry more about getting votes then they worry about what is right. Each and every one of these frivalous lawsuits should be tried and when the verdict comes back that the complainant lied, these same complainants and their lawyers should be held accountable.
This comment is to the socialist. The rederick that you send is un believable. Are you serious about what you type or are you just a criminal yourself or are you some silver spoon kid who never been a victim of a violent crime. Are you one of them people who believe everything you read in the paper and hear on the tv. Do you really believe that these lawyers are filing real lawsuits, these lawyers are just filing any bs that comes there way because they know the city will pay out no matter how much the case is a blatant lie. This is an easy payday for the bs lawyer.
Pilsen Dude - your kidding me right. Pilsen is loaded with gang bangers. Ambrose, La Raza, Party People, Satan Disciple, Wolcott boys, Morgan boys, Bishops and so on and so on. So, you would rather have gang bangers rule the neighborhood or are you a gang banger youself.
The question is what did your sister do. I bill bet a years pay that she was not an innocent bystander. I am sure she broke the law and believed that she was above the law and the police can't arrest her because she pays taxes right. Do you have any idea how many guilty people swore they were innocent and they were going to sue me. This city has fallen pray to parasite lawyers and mony grubbing criminals. I have beens sued a few times and not one of the case brought against me were even remotley true nothing but lies that the system allows to happen because the politicians are only worried about the votes.
Until the citizens of this city realize that the police are not the enemy they are the solution, this city will keep declining. At some point the criminals began running this city and it has been declining ever since. You can say what you want but I know from first hand experience. I will bet you do not have the same life experiences I have. So, do not give you opinion about things you actually have no knowledge of. The corner reverunds and the gang banging tugs have destroyed this once great city and police department. Proactive police work is the only thing that will cure the cancer that this city has, but the politicians do not have the back bone to allow this to happen. The corner race baiting reverunds and gang banger thugs will not like proactive police work because it would slow down their money train with drugs and violence. This city has way to many murders each year, do your really think it is the police fault. Well, if you do, you are wrong. I have arrested many violent criminals who because of some liberal judge or money grubbing lawyer this criminal is set back out on the street to continue there crime spree.
Remember joe the Fascist you and your fellow brown shirts are not greater than the people who empowered you. If you represent fat punks ass Abbate,and others of his ilk,then you are no better than him. Joe you are nothling but a member of the gang in blue.
Abbate had the right to kick the shit out of the female bartender. She had no right to refuse to serve him free drinks. Didn't she know Abbate was one of Chicago's finest. Officer Abbate was only defending himself against the bartender. Justice was blind the bartender should have been arrested. The fellow police officers had the duty to protect abbate ,because he did nothling wrong,but defend himself.
I know of 2 aldermen's children that are lawyers for the plaintiffs in lawsuits against the police department. The city council has final approval on the law suit settlements. These aldermen are the rubber stamp for their kid's lawsuits against the city! How about that for corruption?! Ben, why don't you investigate that?
I am not defending Abbatte, He plain and simple was wrong. But, I have handled jobs were men beat the hell out of woman were there were close to death and the ASA office would not approve felony charges. So, do not use 1 case to determine your entire belief of the police department. In the last 30 years more Alderman have went to Jail then police officers. That is why the politicians do not support pro-active police work, they use the police to blame and reflect the light off of there own self serving criminal enterprise. Again please do not use 1 stupid dude and stereotype every single police officer.
Speaking of the gang in blue. out of the 500 plus homicides that occurred last year more then likely 90 percent of them were gang related. I do not think the police in the city of chicago have shot that many people in the past 15 years. So, how can Joe brown shirt category the police in the same category of thug gang bangers. People please wake up before it is to late. The police are not the enemy.
Don't try to feed us the horse shit line all cops are saint,because it makes you sound like a complete ass. In fairness 90%+ times the police are right. You take an swore oath,and are held to a higher standard. Your power comes from the people not other cops
If our power came from the people why is the CAPS program such a joke and waste of money. Not, to mention have you ever witnessed a crime and looked the other way instead of getting involved? If the power was from the people how come I pull up to a crime scene were there happens to be 40 people standing around and it just so happens that not one of them 40 people seen anything and do not want to cooperate with us. Don't give me that power from the people, because the people you are reffering to are all long gone or dead because the laws were set up by decent lawful people many many years ago even before I was born. Some thing went terribly wrong with society in the last 20 years and do not even try and blame the police because that would only be a false accusation just like the lieing criminals and their lawyers.
Just because some cop gave you a ticket or wasn't as pleasant as you believe you should be treated does not give you the right to despise all cops. Give me a break I am not saying that all cops are saints, but 99 percent of them are lawbiding and fair. There you go again stereotyping. Also, that was not nice to call me an ass, but no big deal I have been called worse.
LOL! Police hating seems like a good idea till your a victim then you find out the police are under staffed and aren't supported. That clown at the bar should have never got on the job, like you never worked with an ass hat that should have been sacked before his first payday.
You confuse a corrupt political system,with with law abiding citizens. Most law abiding people don't get involved because,most times they are treated like criminal,when they step up to help. I know people who have render aid to fallen police officers and to be treated as the perpetrators of the crime. We don't have a user frendly system joe. CAPs was not setup to help the Police or Citizens,but to build support for politicans. How do Drugs get into the Community pokey and Ray-Ray own no boats or Airplanes. So far as the general cultural issues,why were the projects build in the first place?
You think cops are legit and legal 90% of the time? You must be kidding. What do you base this on? All your buddies saying "the cops is bogus"? If we come up with random numbers like that, we get sued for being racist. Everyone thinks they are good people, or at least "innocent". How many of your buddies said "Yup, I was completely wrong, and that cop had every right to arrest me." I guessing NONE. Try it, for a goof....I dare you!
Your sweeping generalization of all citien police encounters,has little creditability. Most cops think all other cops are saints,and can do no wrong. Also your ridulous premise the police don't serve the people only themselves. Maybe we should consider your premise the people are nothling only the police matter ,at budget time joe. Maybe some of you guys would be suited as Mall Cops instead. The Citizens pay your salary.
Why not tell the Fraternal Order of Police that, for every one of the little angels in blue that are involved in a settlement, they have to pay 50% of the settlement amount?
I pay taxes too. So what are you talking about. Most of the criminals do not pay taxes anyway. So please stop believing every thing you read in the paper or see on the news. I do not believe any cop is a saint, they are only human just like you. Ziggy the little angels you are speaking of are the BS lawyers and criminals right? Because the police do pay for the settlements, they pay taxes just like every other tax payer.
Yes you are correct there are a few that should be Mall Cops. Yes you are correct there are many police who are self serving. But you know as well as I do that the political environment today is what created this mentality. Not to mention what are you talking about budget time ? We haven't had a contract for over 2 years. Also, if you believe the police are not needed do not call 911 since you believe we are not needed.
Seems like The Socialist will get what he wants: a beat down police dept. What are you a pothead or a junkie? Shootings are piling up, due in part to people like him. Ya'll can't keep kicking the watch dog and expect him to keep watch. The Socialist and his ilk have no clue. You cannot do police work and not hurt people's feelings. You have to do one or the other. Everybody, thank The Socialist for making things worse! THANK YOU, SOCIALIST!
Also do not say I pay for them so I should use them. That is nothing but a cop out because my taxes pay for the Public school system and you know I will not allow one of my children to go to the crime filled dangerous public scholl system of Chicago. The school system is a dangerous environment for any one even the police. The politicians made it this way not the police.
Re: joe from chi What do you mean shootings are up because of people like me? You don't know me, please don't attack my credibility. People make their own decisions to commit crimes, blue collar or white collar. I'm not a pothead or junkie because this slows the critical thinking process. As a tax paying stakeholder in Chicago, I have more than a voice. I work hard at two jobs and when CPD make mistakes with million dollar lawsuits, this removes money from my kitchen table in the form of higher taxes from the shortfall in available budget money. Then CPD complains about not receiving contracts on a timely basis? In this trickle down economy, CPD employees have well paying jobs with GREAT benefits and GREAT prestige. How about using the prestige with care?
The Socialist has it all wrong. These lawsuits are not because police make mistakes, these lawsuits are simply a money source for lawyers and the criminal has caught on to how easy these politicians will give tax payer money away that they know that they can lie about anything and still get paid. If you actually believe that all of these law suits are from police making mistakes you are being misled. We live in a very corrupt city and if we collectively do not make a change about the people we elect it will never end. Like I said in another comment the police are not the enemy the police are only the scapegoat.
O.K. I may be wrong about the whole system, but criminals want to get caught being criminals so they can make money for lawyers? Explain this phenomenon.
Daley stooge. Obviously. Okay, 'socialist', you've done your master's bidding, now go get him his cup of dope laced coffee. chop chop.
Why did the police dept start hiring astrophysicist,instead of GED graduates. like my.. father use to say"IF You swing a club,write a ticket,and shoot a gun without shooting yourself,join the CPD.
It is not that they want to get caught, it has shifted to the fact when they get caught the liberal lopsided court system will not convict them like they should be doing and then they turn around and sue. Then instead of fighting the case the city settles.
Never said police never make mistakes, every body makes mistakes we are only human just as yourself. What I was leading to is just because a police officer gets sued it doesn't mean they made a mistake. The system has gotten out of control and every body sues and just lies about everything. I had a signed complaint and did everything correct and was still sued. The offender just lied and lied and lied and got away with it. I asked my lawyer how this could happen and he said that he can come into court and say what ever he wants about you there is nothing I can do about. I was shocked myself but that is what really happened. Nothing but out and out lies.
The lawyer is not the only one who gets paid on these bs lawsuits, remember the offender/complainant gets paid also. So that is why these frivalous lawsuits are filed. It is a money maker for lawyers and criminals and it has to be stopped or this city is going to go bankrupt and it will not be the police departments fault like the media outlets like to portray it will the bs law suits that the city keeps settling.
Re:Joe-A Cop: Local, county and state officials can't afford to hold and charge every person for petty drug or other charges. The system is not sustainable long term and puts pressure on resources like, um, money! If the politicians decide to invest in good schools in ALL communities and not just the affluent and educate young people properly, then you and your co-workers jobs would be so much easier. Is this discussed at your job? You mentioned earlier about the problems in public schools, well many of these kids are educated at CPS, how will they compete with a sub-par education? Having a well rounded education puts people in the position to earn a decent living and not becoming influenced to social pressures of poverty, hustling for a quick buck. Invest in good schools, sustainable communities, parental outreach and training from social services organizations. If they don't invest in good schools crime will continue to rise, I predict they finally will do what's right.
To the Socialist you made very good points regarding the city of chicago's education system. That is a huge problem. But, you must remember you can not teach some one if they do not want to be taught. The public school system is a huge drain on the budget and it is way under par. Yes , I understand the burden on the budget keeping people housed in prison, but that does not change the fact of the offenders guilt. So, what it seems as if you are saying just find them not guilty because it is cheaper then housing them. That may have worked years ago but the system has changed, every time they find a guilty person not guilty to save housing money the final outcome is that guilty person finds some lawyer to file a bs lawsuit and the city pays anyway. So how can it be, um, money! It seems all they are doing robbing from peter to pay paul.
joe-a-cop - what is the percentage of felony crimes committed while under the influence of alcohol, as opposed to pot? http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/29 Study up on those stats, and then come back and explain why it is we lock up non-violent "drug" users here in Chicago and Cook County. Nobody makes cops arrest nonviolent drug users, guilty or no - I see people guilty of 8 zillion infractions of the law, from littering to jaywalking, every day - you all choose which laws you want to enforce.
Reality Check from: http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com/2009/06/108-shot-in-week.html "OT(sort of): I posted the other day about the fat bitch at 7121 s. Normal wishing the police harm. It was a typo. It was actually 7421 s. Normal. My typing mistake. The 9 yoa that was killed lived almost DIRECTLY behind this address. Gerald Lauderdale, who was one of the two people charged in the homicide, was hanging with these pieces of shit that night. He kept yelling from the porch 'I ain't got no job bitches! Fuck ya all.' I guess payback is a bitch. Not to insult the memory of an innocent 9 yoa, but this family didn't want us around because they wanted to continue their ghetto thug lifestyle. Breeding, drinking, screaming till 6am and contributing NOTHING to the world. Now, due to fear of retribution, fat mama had to turn her kid in. They HAD to turn to the police to protect this POS. Had to turn him in so that she could continue her useless life of police hating all the while while NEEDING the police to protect him from her fellow thugs who she associates with. Irony may be a word to describe this situation. And, as a side note to this story, there was a burglary to a business at 350 W. 75th Street on 27jun at approximately 5am. Owner was in fear of his life due to threatening messages from the hood. Owner would not talk to officers on scene but sent an associate to scene to survey the damage. This business is located within a half block from where the child was killed. On scene, the associate stated that the owner used to live at 7419 s. normal, but had moved due to a threat from a certain individual on 74 and stewart who was pissed because he was feuding with the neighbors at 7421 s. Normal (sound familiar?) and since he lived next door, he must be siding with the block. These threats got so bad that the owner moved fearing for his safety and has been looted ever since. Who were the fat bitch and now-arrestee feuding with: a man named Andre Turner. Who is Andre Turner? The father of the dead child. In summary, ghetto pieces of shit taunt the police but then turn to said police to protect them. Andre Turner threatens the hood and businesses owners and gets shot but is a sympathetic figure to Fr. Faker and the media. War breaks out between both parties. Who pays for these adults living the ghetto life of acting like 6th world animals: an innocent 9yoa. Pathetic 6/27/2009 05:11:00 PM"
To the skeptic, I am not sure of the percentage of people locked up for being under the infuence of pot, but I do know that 90 percent of the people in jail say that they were under the influence of alcohol or drugs during the commission of the crime. What do you mean by non-violent drug users. You would look at it differently if that non-violent drug user you are speaking of just burglarized your house or broke into your vehicle. Just because they do not committ a felony of great bodily harm doesn't mean they are not a menace to society as we know it. But, I do agree with what you are saying the wiehgt of the sentence does not match the crime. That usually depends on the offenders rap sheet, you will not find many people get sentenced to a good amount of time if is their first offense. But, you are also right that we lost the war on drugs we should find another way to control it, but that is not up to the police that is up to the politicians.
"non violent" drug consuption? Look at the body count in that third world country to our south. If you think your toking up (or rock smoking) doesn't cause misery and loss of liberty for someone else, your kidding yourself. Most property crime not withstanding. You can make a sound argument (I would prob agree)for legalization but if you think your dope is grown in a ditch in Indiana your stoned. But, what am I saying..."Its the police's fault"
Personal Responsibility. Plain and simple. It is not the governments problem to solve everyones problems. Good school? Most of the CPS schools would be good schools if they were not infested with gangs and thugs. So let me get this straight, its the governments fault that kids are uneducated and later committ crime and join gangs? Social services is a drain on taxpayer money. We have been flooding social services with money for some time now - lost cause. Back to the top. Personal responsibility. One of the many virtues of being a Republican. Hey, socialist you are probably all for a universal health care system too. Every aspect of government can be looked at to save money. Everyone wants to bash the police. We have 50 plus alderman in this city all making 6 figures, but you dont protest that. They all get approx. 1.2 million a year to spend as they deem fit. Now thats a lot of money we could be saving. The police dont make the laws, crooked politicians with an agenda($$$) make them. The police just enforce them. Of course you are not going to be happy when you get a speeding ticket or cell phone ticket. Call your Rep. Take some of these laws off the books. It wont happen. Its all about money. Just look at the red light cameras. Stop complaining about the police and complain about the red light cameras. Slowly but surely your freedom is being taken away dumbasses. You probably voted for Daley too.
Joe- a cop said "Until the citizens of this city realize that the police are not the enemy they are the solution, this city will keep declining. At some point the criminals began running this city and it has been declining ever since." "Some thing went terribly wrong with society in the last 20 years and do not even try and blame the police because that would only be a false accusation just like the lieing criminals and their lawyers." Now Joe, I actually agree with some of your other points (not all, but some) but those statements are patently absurd! I was here in 1968 when the police beat down non-violent political protesters and that was the moment that many of us became afraid of Chicago's police. When law abiding citizens became the target of those who were sworn to protect us we naturally had the knee-jerk reaction of no longer trusting the police. And now, 40 years later, it doesn't seem like much has changed... POs that get off for beating up a female bartenders, POs that fatally hit poor kids on their bikes while drunk driving, POs that face no consequences from being involved in bar brawls, etc. Oh, and my own personal favorite (from personal experience) is when an off-duty cop almost hit me with his truck and then had the audacity to pull his firearm on me and point it at my head because I yelled at him and told him to pay attention to the stop sign and the crosswalk that he just went through... now that was priceless... he almost kills me and then pulls a gun because I yelled at him for it. Gee, I wonder why we regular folk don't trust the police in this city.
