The Chicago Justice Project has filed a new series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with the City of Chicago as part of an ongoing effort to better understand how much taxpayer money is spent on litigation, settlements, judgments, and risk management related to the Chicago Police Department (CPD).
This week, we submitted the first in a series of three FOIA requests to the Chicago Department of Finance’s Risk Management Division (RMD). These requests seek records that can help the public understand how the City tracks, analyzes, and pays for litigation involving CPD officers and employees.
For years, Chicago taxpayers have borne the financial costs of police misconduct lawsuits, civil rights litigation, wrongful convictions, and other claims involving the police department. While settlement and judgment totals occasionally make headlines, much less is known about how the City internally tracks litigation risk, analyzes trends, evaluates recurring problems, and manages the long-term financial consequences of these cases.
Our FOIA requests are designed to fill some of those gaps.
What We Are Requesting
The requests seek four broad categories of information.
Litigation Analysis and Risk Assessment
We have requested records, reports, memos, emails, and other documents that analyze litigation involving the Chicago Police Department from 2019 to the present.
Among other things, we are seeking documents showing:
- The types of claims and cases filed against CPD.
- Litigation trends and outcomes.
- Analyses identifying officers, units, districts, or departments that generate the most litigation exposure.
- Assessments of the incidents, policies, or geographic areas associated with the greatest legal risk.
- Internal evaluations of litigation costs and liabilities.
The request specifically seeks records related to the “departmental risk assessment” referenced in the Office of Inspector General’s report, Use of Litigation Data in Risk Management Strategies for the Chicago Police Department.
Litigation Databases and Data Systems
The City uses various databases and litigation management systems to track lawsuits and claims. We are requesting records identifying those systems, including:
- Internal litigation databases and trackers.
- Electronic litigation management platforms.
- Data dictionaries explaining the fields and information maintained in those systems.
- Training materials used by City employees.
- Case-level litigation data from 2019 to the present.
Understanding what data the City maintains and how it is organized is a critical step toward evaluating whether litigation data is being used effectively to identify problem officers, emerging risks, or systemic issues.
Settlements, Judgments, and Insurance
A third section of the request focuses on how the City pays for settlements and court judgments.
Specifically, we are requesting:
- Records related to Community Insurance Center.
- Records concerning entities that provide insurance coverage for police-related settlements and judgments.
- Documents related to the payment of settlements and judgments involving CPD officers and employees.
- Analyses of settlement and judgment payment data.
This information will help provide a clearer picture of the financial mechanisms behind police litigation costs and how those expenses are managed.
Transparency About the FOIA Process
Finally, we are requesting records showing how the Risk Management Division searches for and identifies responsive records.
This includes documentation showing:
- Where searches were conducted.
- Who conducted those searches.
- Which individuals were asked to produce records.
- Records that were identified but withheld.
This request is intended to ensure public accountability and provide transparency regarding the City’s response process.
Why This Matters
Police misconduct, civil rights violations, and other litigation involving CPD have cost Chicago taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars over the years. Yet the public still has limited visibility into how City agencies analyze litigation trends, manage risk, and use information from lawsuits to prevent future misconduct.
Litigation data can provide valuable insight into patterns of behavior, recurring problem areas, supervision failures, training deficiencies, and policy weaknesses. When properly analyzed, that information can be used to reduce future harm, improve accountability, and lower costs for taxpayers.
The Office of Inspector General has previously highlighted the importance of using litigation data as a risk management tool. Our requests seek to better understand what data exists, how it is being used, and whether City agencies are learning from the vast amount of information generated through CPD-related litigation.
What’s Next
This filing is the first of three coordinated FOIA requests focused on police litigation costs.
Over the coming weeks, the Chicago Justice Project will submit additional requests to other City agencies seeking records related to litigation expenses, settlements, judgments, and broader accountability mechanisms.
As records are produced, we will publish updates, analyses, and datasets to help the public better understand the financial and accountability implications of CPD-related litigation.
Transparency is a prerequisite for accountability. These FOIA requests are aimed at providing the public with a more complete picture of how Chicago tracks, analyzes, and pays for the consequences of police-related litigation.
We will continue to keep the public informed as these requests move through the FOIA process.
A copy of the requests is below.
