The city of Chicago is racking up quite a bill from its police officers in court, and it’s a small group that seems to be repeatedly getting into trouble.
Advertisement
Police also reported 51 murders so far this year, a jump from 29 last January.
We issued a report in March of 2015 revealing that during the summer of 2014, Chicago police stopped more than 250,000 persons (and presumably frisked a very high percentage) without arresting or issuing a ticket to one of these individuals.
Chicago Police continue to investigate the incident, and though one of the possibilities is a domestic dispute, they still are not sure how it started.
Much of that money comes from high-profile settlements the city has made in recent years to the victims of police brutality and wrongful deaths.
Protesters gathered outside the courthouse to express their concerns and feelings regarding the alleged cover-up of a video that showed Van Dyke shooting McDonald 16 times.
Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony Gugielmi said that more needs to be done to rid the department of misbehaving officers.
He added that improving early intervention will be a focus of a new police accountability task force and U.S. Justice Department Investigation.
Gunfire wounded more than 292 people in Chicago last month, more than double the number of people shot during the same month a year ago.
The police department entered an agreement with the American Civil Liberties Union to record contact cards for all street stops after the organization criticized the the city’s police for disproportionately targeting minorities for questioning and searches.
While the officers represent a fraction of the police force’s roughly 12,000 officers, they are identified in almost a third of the misconduct lawsuits settled since 2009.
The ACLU disagrees with claims that the spike in Chicago shootings is connected to the decrease in police stops.
Advertisement
The department says it has also conducted a series of raids in areas of the city they know are problematic.
