The City of Chicago has paid out nearly $300 million in 2025 alone for civil judgments & settlements related to litigation involving the Chicago Police Department. A 2022 report by the City’s Inspector General detailed massive gaps in the data collected by the City’s Law Department, Office of Risk Management, and the CPD itself. On top of all this, their systems were not integrated, so there was no way to connect the Law Department’s data on settlements & judgments to the CPD’s data on complaints against officers and the resulting discipline, if any discipline was actually imposed. 

The gaps in litigation data exposed by the IG’s report prompted commitments from the CPD, Law Department, and the Office of Risk Management to implement new systems and work towards integrating their data. 

Sadly, any integration has not resulted in more information being made public regarding this litigation. These FOIAs are our efforts to liberate this data from the city and make it available to the public, empowering communities to understand the depth of the problem and seek reforms where needed. 

FOIA Content

To:      Chicago Police Department

Re:     Chicago Justice Project FOIA Requests

In accordance with the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, 5 ILCS 140, I request that your office provide copies of the following public records:

FOIA A

1. All non-privileged documents including records, reports, memos, and emails analyzing data related to litigation involving the Chicago Police Department, sworn officers, or civilian employees from 2016 to present. 

Without limiting the scope of request 1, and by way of example only, the types of documents sought would include statistical analyses or similar summaries of CPD litigation, such as the types of cases or claims won and lost; the officers, precincts or departments that generate the most litigation, risk or liability; the types of incidents or geographical locations that generate the most litigation, risk or liability; the overall budget for or cost of litigation to CPD; and the like.

• Analyses (or documents reflecting analyses) conducted by the CPD’s Office of Risk Management on data related to any litigation involving the Chicago Police Department, sworn officers, or civilian employees from 2016 to present.

Without limiting the scope of request 2, documents sought include records, reports, memos, and emails.

• All non-privileged third-party documents, including records, reports, memos, and emails analyzing data related to litigation involving the Chicago Police Department, sworn officers, or civilian employees from 2016 to present. 

Without limiting the scope of request 3, documents sought include records, reports, memos, and emails created by any non-CPD entity, public body, consultant, or city department.

FOIA B

1. Records maintained by CPD that show, or are sufficient to show, the name(s) of any databases, Electronic Litigation Management systems, and internal trackers that the CPD has maintains or has maintained since 2016 as cited in the Office of Inspector General report titled “Use of Litigation Data In Risk Management Strategies for the Chicago Police Department” that contain data related to litigation against the Chicago Police Department, sworn officers, or civilian employees. 

2. The data dictionary(s) for any database(s) and Electronic Litigation Management systems cited in part B1 of this request that contain data related to litigation against the Chicago Police Department, sworn officers, or civilian employees. 

3. All training materials for any database, Electronic Litigation Management system, or internal tracker cited in part B1 of this request that contain data related to litigation against the Chicago Police Department, sworn officers, or civilian employees.

4. Records that show or are sufficient to show the official name(s) of any database(s) and Electronic Litigation Management systems created or maintained by a third party to which the CPD has access, that contain data related to litigation against the Chicago Police Department, sworn officers, or civilian employees. This should include the TeamConnect case management system maintained by the Department of Law.

5. The data dictionary(s) for any database(s) and Electronic Litigation Management systems created or maintained by a third party to which the CPD has access that contain data related to litigation against the Chicago Police Department, sworn officers, or civilian employees, as cited in part B4 of this request.

6. All training materials for any database, Electronic Litigation Management system, or internal tracker created or maintained by a third party to which the CPD has access that contain data related to litigation against the Chicago Police Department, sworn officers, or civilian employees, as cited in part B4 of this request.

7. All non-privileged case-level data from the database(s), Electronic Litigation Management systems, and internal trackers identified in response to request B1 for the years 2016 to present. Please omit any data required to be withheld by law, if there is any such data required to be omitted. 

8. Documents sufficient to identify or account for any data withheld from the case-level data provided in response to request 7. 

  FOIA C

1. Records sufficient to show Your efforts to locate and produce the records requested in FOIA A & B above. This should include:

A. Where you searched for responsive Records and Documents.

B. Who searched for responsive Records and Documents.

C. Who was requested to produce responsive Records and Documents.

D. The identify of any Records and Documents that were located but not produced for any reason.

DEFINITIONS

“Document” and/or “Documents” means any documents or electronically stored information of any kind—including writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, sound recordings, images, and other data or data compilations—stored in any medium from which information can be obtained either directly or, if necessary, after translation by the responding party into a reasonably usable form.

“You” or “Your” means the {Public Body}, and all attorneys, employees, officers, directors, bureaus, offices, divisions or subdivisions of same.

INSTRUCTIONS

If the agency withholds any document or information pertinent to the requests made herein, please identify the document or information in as much detail as is possible, and detail in specific language why each document or piece of information is being withheld.

If any information requested herein is withheld on the basis of a claim of privilege or other protection as material prepared in anticipation of litigation or trial, then that claim shall be made expressly in a writing that describes the nature of the Documents, Communications, or Things not produced or disclosed in a manner that will enable us to assess the applicability of the privilege or protection. With regard to each claim of privilege or protection, the following information should be provided in the response or the objection:

(a) the type of Document, e.g., letter or memorandum;

(b) general subject matter of the Document;

(c) the date of the Document;

(d) such other information as is sufficient to identify the Document for a subpoena duces tecum, including, where appropriate, the author, addressee, and any other recipient of the Document, and, where not apparent, the relationship of the author, addressee, and any other recipient to each other; and

(e) the nature of the privilege or protection;

(f) if applicable, the litigation or trial of which the document was created in anticipation.

If any Document identified herein has been lost, discarded, or destroyed, each such Document should be identified as completely as possible, including as to each such Document, its date, general nature (e.g., letter, memorandum, telegram, telex, photograph, computer printout), subject matter, each author or originator, each person indicated as an addressee or copy recipient, and its former custodian(s). In addition, as to each such Document, the following information shall be supplied:

(a) date of disposal, loss, or destruction;

(b) manner of disposal, loss, or destruction;

(c) reason for disposal or destruction, or any explanation of loss;

(d) persons authorizing the disposal or destruction;

(e) persons having knowledge of the disposal, destruction, or loss; and

(f) persons who destroyed, lost, or disposed or the Document or Thing.

I look forward to hearing from you in writing within five working days, as required by the Act 5 ILCS 140(3).  If I do not hear from you within five working days, I will understand that all objections to these requests have been waived and/or that there are no such objections. 

Please direct all questions or responses to this FOIA request to this email address by responding to this email. I can be reached at tsiska@chicagojustice.org