Chicago Plans to Settle Police Lawsuits by Taking Out $283 Million Loan

Wrongful Convictions Drain City Budget

Chicago is broke, and a big part of the reason is sitting in courtrooms. The city announced it will borrow $283.3 million just to cover police misconduct lawsuits, and taxpayers will pay another $52 million in interest on top of that.

The cases stretch back decades, to officers who tortured confessions out of innocent men, framed residents on fake drug charges, and chased cars through neighborhoods until people died.

Three names keep coming up: Jon Burge, Ronald Watts, and Reynaldo Guevara. None of them work for the department anymore, but the bills they created keep arriving.

2025 Payouts Already Triple the Budget

Chicago set aside $82. 5 million in 2025 to cover police misconduct settlements.

By mid-year, the city had already blown past that number. The current total sits above $285 million and climbing.

Wrongful conviction cases make up the biggest chunk, followed by deadly police chases that violated department policy.

The city exhausted its entire annual budget for these settlements by April, just four months into the year.

Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson-Lowry has pushed to settle cases faster, arguing it saves money compared to losing at trial.

Jon Burge Ran a Torture Ring

From 1972 to 1991, Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and a group of detectives known as the “Midnight Crew” tortured more than 110 Black men and women at Area 2 headquarters on the South Side.

They used electric shock on genitals, suffocated suspects with plastic bags, burned them with cigarettes, and beat them with phone books. The goal was forcing confessions, and it worked.

Dozens of men went to prison for crimes they did not commit. Burge earned commendations and promotions while the torture continued for nearly two decades.

Burge Victims Fought for Decades

The city fired Burge in 1993, but prosecutors could not charge him for torture because the statute of limitations had expired.

He was eventually convicted in 2011 on perjury and obstruction charges for lying about the abuse in civil depositions.

He served four years in federal prison and kept collecting his $3,000 monthly pension until he died in 2018.

In 2015, Chicago became the first U.S. city to pass a reparations ordinance for police torture survivors, paying $5.5 million to 57 victims and offering free college tuition to their families.

Ronald Watts Terrorized Public Housing

Sergeant Ronald Watts ran a tactical unit at the Ida B. Wells public housing complex on the South Side from the early 2000s until 2012.

He and his officers shook down drug dealers for cash and information.

When residents refused to pay or had nothing to offer, Watts planted drugs on them and sent them to prison on fake charges. The FBI investigated him for years but left him on the street.

He was finally arrested in 2012 after stealing $5,200 from an undercover informant posing as a drug courier.

Largest Mass Exoneration in Chicago History

Cook County judges have thrown out at least 234 convictions tied to Watts and his team. The victims spent a combined total of more than 270 years in prison.

Many pleaded guilty to crimes they did not commit because they had no way to fight back against officers who would lie in court. The exonerations began in 2016 and continued for years as attorneys identified more cases.

State’s Attorney Kim Foxx eventually sidelined 10 former members of the Watts unit from testifying in any criminal cases due to credibility concerns.

City Pays $90 Million to Watts Victims

In September 2025, the Chicago City Council approved a first-of-its-kind global settlement to resolve 176 lawsuits tied to Watts. The $90 million payout went to 180 people who spent nearly 200 years in prison combined.

Individual payments ranged from $150,000 for those sentenced to probation up to more than $3 million for a man who served a decade behind bars.

The city will have to borrow to cover the settlement, adding roughly $20 million more in interest costs. Mayor Johnson called it a historic moment reflecting the city’s commitment to accountability.

Guevara Framed Dozens for Murder

Detective Reynaldo Guevara worked homicide cases on the Northwest Side from the 1980s through the early 2000s.

More than 50 people have accused him of framing them for murders, coercing false confessions through beatings and threats, and manipulating witness lineups.

The Illinois Appellate Court called him a “malignant blight” on the police department and the justice system. Unlike Burge and Watts, Guevara was never charged with any crime.

He retired with a full pension and still collects more than $1.4 million in payments since leaving the force.

Guevara Settlements Top $112 Million

Chicago taxpayers have paid at least $112 million to settle nine lawsuits naming Guevara, with 44 more cases still pending.

The most recent settlement, approved in November 2025, paid $17 million to Jose Maysonet, who spent 27 years in prison after Guevara allegedly beat him into confessing to a double murder.

Unlike the Watts cases, city lawyers have not been able to negotiate a global settlement because Guevara never pleaded guilty to anything.

His victims served longer sentences for murder convictions, and many key witnesses have died.

Police Chases Keep Adding to the Tab

Wrongful convictions are not the only drain on city finances. Police pursuits that violate department policy have resulted in massive payouts.

A Cook County jury ordered the city to pay $79.85 million to the family of a 10-year-old girl killed after a 2020 chase.

Another $32 million went to a St. Louis man who lost both legs when a driver being chased by Chicago police struck him in 2022.

A separate $7. 5 million settlement went to a couple killed by a fleeing driver on the Far South Side.

The city is appealing some verdicts but keeps losing.

Chicago Faces $1.15 Billion Budget Gap

The borrowing for police misconduct comes as Chicago stares down a $1.15 billion deficit for 2026.

Mayor Johnson proposed a $16.6 billion budget that includes new taxes on corporations, cloud computing services, and social media companies.

The city has already imposed $165 million in new taxes and fees over the past two years. Pension costs consume nearly a quarter of the city’s budget.

Federal pandemic relief money has run out.

Some aldermen have questioned how the city can keep paying hundreds of millions for cases from decades ago while struggling to fund basic services.

The Bills Will Keep Coming

Corporation Counsel Richardson-Lowry warned the City Council that the Watts settlement was not the end. More cases are in the pipeline, and the Guevara lawsuits alone could cost hundreds of millions more.

Burge-related cases still trickle in. The officers responsible are retired, dead, or living out of state, but Chicago taxpayers remain on the hook for what they did.

The 2026 budget sets aside just $82.5 million for police misconduct settlements, the same amount the city blew through in four months this year. The math does not work, and everyone at City Hall knows it.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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