$12 Million Police Shooting Verdict Against Chicago Police department

Tony Romanucci

Contributor

0 CommentsPrint ArticleSubscribe

In one of the largest awards ever in a Chicago Police shooting, a Cook County jury Thursday said the city must pay $12 million to the family of a 23-year-old unarmed man whose death was caught on a CTA station security video now heavily viewed on YouTube.

That tops the 2003 award of $9.6 million in the police shooting of Northwestern University student Robert Russ, but is less than the 2001 settlement of $18 million the city reached with the family of police shooting victim LaTanya Haggerty.

"We're disappointed with the amount of the verdict," said city Law Department spokeswoman Jenny Hoyle. "We believe it's excessive."

The huge verdict comes down at a time when excessive force and misconduct by Chicago Police officers are under a microscope.