Lee Harris, 67, who claimed he was framed by police and prosecutors before spending 33 years in prison, filed the federal civil rights lawsuit Thursday — six months after his conviction was vacated and he was released from prison following his conviction in the 1989 murder of 24-year-old Dana Feitler.
Police Accountability
Mayor Brandon Johnson picked Larry Snelling to implement Johnson’s pledge to fight crime in Chicago with a holistic approach that focuses on the root causes of violence.
The board on Tuesday rejected a motion brought by the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, which sought to move 22 disciplinary cases from the board to an independent arbitrator, following a summer ruling that opened the door for such a shift.
Snelling is one vote away from becoming the 64th superintendent of the Chicago Police Department, with final approval expected Wednesday.
The Chicago Police Department must implement an early-warning system under the terms of the consent decree, the federal court order designed to compel the department to change the way it trains, supervises and disciplines officers. CPD is in full compliance with just 5% of that 2019 court order, city data shows.
Chicago taxpayers have now spent $178 million since January 2019 to resolve lawsuits brought by more than three dozen people wrongfully convicted based on evidence gathered by Chicago Police Department officers, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News.
A new study from researchers at the University of Chicago Crime Lab has found a training program rooted in behavioral science can dramatically cut the number of use-of-force incidents committed by police while also increasing officer safety.
That toll is set to grow in the coming weeks, as the Chicago City Council considers paying $25 million to resolve separate lawsuits filed in 2016 by two men who spent a combined 34 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of killing a basketball star in 1993.
Snelling vowed to rebuild trust between Chicagoans and the Police Department, which is struggling to reduce crime and implement court-ordered reforms designed to ensure officers no longer routinely violate the constitutional rights of Black and Latino Chicagoans.
It is unclear what prompted the decision to reconsider the proposed settlement after the Chicago City Council rejected it in July on a vote of 22-26.
Inspector General Deborah Witzburg said city officials and police brass are “ill-equipped to evaluate and improve response times, simply because, more often than not, we have no information on when the police arrive to respond to an emergency.”
Chicago spent $197.7 million to resolve lawsuits alleging more than 1,000 Chicago police officers committed a wide range of misconduct in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Of that total, $91.3 million came from settlements involving 116 officers whose conduct led to multiple payouts.
If confirmed as superintendent, Larry Snelling faces a delicate balancing act — addressing the crime and violence that have plagued Chicago while also changing the way CPD trains and disciplines its officers.
Chief Larry Snelling, tapped by Mayor Brandon Johnson to lead the Chicago Police Department, served as an expert witness in more than two dozen civil and criminal cases involving police officers, according to court records reviewed by WTTW News.
Raymond Comer, 38, filed a seven-count civil suit in Cook County court in which he claimed he was shot by a Chicago police officer multiple times as he sat inside a vehicle last August.
“This is an extremely important day for the city,” Snelling said Monday. “For people who grew up like I did — a resident of Englewood and a student of the Chicago Public Schools — I want you to know the possibilities are limitless.”
