Police misconduct settlements are costing cities billions of dollars, with payouts climbing to record levels in New York, Chicago, and jurisdictions across the country. New York City alone paid more than $117 million in 2025 to settle 1,044 NYPD misconduct lawsuits, its fourth straight year above $100 million.1ABC7 New York. NYC Paid $117 Million to Settle NYPD Police Misconduct Lawsuits Chicago spent at least $175.6 million in just the first four months of 2026 — more than twice its entire annual settlement budget of $82.5 million, forcing the City Council to authorize $283.3 million in borrowing to cover the shortfall.2WTTW News. 4 Months Into Year, Chicago Has Spent at Least $175.6M to Resolve Police Misconduct Lawsuits Nationally, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s Thurgood Marshall Institute has tracked more than 400 publicly reported police misconduct settlements totaling over $3.96 billion.3Police Funding Database. Explore the Database – Settlements
Since 2019, New York City has spent roughly $796 million on NYPD misconduct settlements, drawn from a budget separate from the department’s $6.4 billion operating fund.1ABC7 New York. NYC Paid $117 Million to Settle NYPD Police Misconduct Lawsuits That separation matters. The money comes out of general taxpayer funds, not police budgets, which is one reason critics say settlements rarely translate into department-level change.
Wrongful Convictions Produce the Largest Checks
The biggest numbers almost always involve people who spent years or decades in prison for crimes they did not commit. Lost decades, destroyed families, and vanished careers add up quickly in front of a jury.
In March 2025, a federal jury awarded $120 million to John Fulton and Anthony Mitchell, two Chicago men wrongfully convicted of the 2003 murder of Christopher Collazo. Both were teenagers when arrested and spent more than 16 years in prison before a judge vacated their convictions in 2019. No physical evidence or eyewitnesses linked them to the crime, and jurors found that Chicago police detectives fabricated evidence and coerced false confessions. The city has said it will appeal.4WTTW News. Jury Awards $120M to 2 Men Wrongfully Convicted of 2003 Murder5ABC7 Chicago. Wrongful Conviction Cases: John Fulton, Anthony Mitchell Awarded $120M
Other recent wrongful conviction payouts show the same pattern:
- In September 2025, Chicago reached a $90 million global settlement resolving 176 lawsuits brought by 184 people framed by former CPD Sergeant Ronald Watts and his tactical team. Watts ran a shakedown scheme at the Ida B. Wells public housing complex, planting drugs on residents who refused to pay him. Collectively, the plaintiffs spent more than 180 years in custody. Individual payouts ranged from $150,000 for people who received probation to over $3 million for someone who served a decade behind bars.6WBEZ Chicago. Victims of $90 Million Police Misconduct Settlement7WTTW News. Chicago Taxpayers Spend $126.8M on Lawsuits Tied to Ex-Sgt. Ronald Watts
- California paid $25 million in August 2025 to Maurice Hastings, who spent 38 years in prison for a 1983 sexual assault and murder. DNA testing in 2022 excluded him and identified another suspect, and a judge declared him factually innocent in March 2023.8CNN. Maurice Hastings Wrongful Conviction Settlement
- In April 2026, a federal jury awarded $24.35 million to Jeffrey Clark, who spent 22.5 years in a Kentucky prison after investigators in a 1992 murder case used white-out to alter the date on a death certificate, fabricated witness statements, and promoted a “satanic ritual” theory. DNA evidence later proved the biological material at the scene belonged to someone else.9WDRB. Federal Jury Awards Nearly $25M to Kentucky Man10Loevy + Loevy. Jury Awards $24.35 Million to Jeffrey Clark
- Baltimore paid $14 million in January 2026 to Gary Washington, imprisoned for more than 30 years for a 1986 murder. His conviction rested heavily on testimony from a 12-year-old witness who later recanted, alleging police had coerced him by threatening to remove him from his mother and charge him with the crime.11Loevy + Loevy. Gary Washington Receives $14 Million From City of Baltimore12Baltimore Sun. Baltimore Gary Washington Wrongful Conviction Settlement
One of the largest wrongful conviction awards in American history came out of North Carolina in 2021, when a jury awarded $75 million to half-brothers Henry McCollum and Leon Brown. Both had intellectual disabilities and were coerced into confessing as teenagers to the 1983 rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl. McCollum was sentenced to death, Brown to life. They spent roughly 31 years in prison before DNA evidence implicated another man.13CBS News. Henry McCollum, Leon Brown $75 Million Wrongful Conviction Settlement14Death Penalty Information Center. North Carolina Jury Awards McCollum and Brown $75M
Settlements From High-Profile Police Killings
Several widely known cases produced eight-figure settlements and, in some instances, reshaped department policy.
George Floyd — $27 Million, Minneapolis
In March 2021, Minneapolis agreed to pay $27 million to the family of George Floyd, who died on May 25, 2020, after officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck. The payout was described as the largest pre-trial civil rights wrongful death settlement in U.S. history at the time. It included $500,000 directed to the business district at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, along with police reforms covering use-of-force reporting, mandatory body cameras, and updated recruitment policies favoring candidates with social service experience.15BBC. George Floyd: Minneapolis Agrees $27M Settlement With Family16PBS NewsHour. Minneapolis to Pay $27 Million to Settle Lawsuit With George Floyd’s Family
Breonna Taylor — $12 Million, Louisville
Louisville agreed in September 2020 to pay $12 million to the family of Breonna Taylor, fatally shot during the execution of a no-knock search warrant in March 2020. The city admitted no wrongdoing but accepted warrant-related reforms: commanding officer approval of all search warrants, paramedic presence during forced-entry warrants, expanded drug testing for officers, and an early warning system to track use-of-force incidents and complaints. The Louisville city council separately passed “Breonna’s Law,” banning no-knock warrants.17City of Louisville. Mayor Fischer Announces Settlement of Civil Lawsuit18The 19th. The $12 Million Breonna Taylor Settlement Sparks Reform
Elijah McClain — $15 Million, Aurora
Aurora, Colorado, paid $15 million to the family of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old who died in August 2019 after officers placed him in a chokehold and paramedics injected him with ketamine. A grand jury later indicted three officers and two paramedics. Officer Randy Roedema was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault; the other two officers were acquitted. Both paramedics were convicted of criminally negligent homicide in December 2023, but in June 2026 a Colorado appeals court reversed those convictions and ordered new trials. The Colorado Attorney General has signaled plans to appeal the reversal.19NPR. City of Aurora Pays $15 Million Settlement20CPR News. Elijah McClain Paramedic Verdicts Overturned
Tyre Nichols — $550 Million Lawsuit Pending
The family of Tyre Nichols filed a $550 million lawsuit against the City of Memphis after his fatal beating by officers in January 2023. No settlement has been reached. Civil trial is scheduled to begin July 13, 2026, with attorneys estimating the proceedings could last 25 days. An attorney for the city warned in a court filing that the claim could “bankrupt the city.”21Fox 13 Memphis. Attorneys for Tyre Nichols Family Speak After Civil Trial Date Set
Why Cities Pay Instead of Officers
Most of these cases are brought under a federal law known as Section 1983 (42 U.S.C. § 1983), which lets individuals sue state and local officials for constitutional violations committed under color of their office. Section 1983 is a civil claim, operating on a separate track from any criminal case. The civil burden is “preponderance of the evidence” — essentially, more likely than not — rather than proof beyond a reasonable doubt, which is why a person can lose a criminal case and still win a civil one.22Mississippi Bar. The Difference Between a Civil and Criminal Case
Suing the city itself is harder than suing the officer. Under the 1978 Supreme Court decision in Monell, a municipality can be held liable only if the constitutional violation flowed from an official policy, a widespread custom or practice, or a failure to properly train or supervise officers. It isn’t enough that the city employed the officer; the plaintiff has to show institutional failure.23U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Who Is Guarding the Guardians – Chapter 5
Individual officers are often shielded by qualified immunity, a doctrine that protects them from personal liability unless their conduct violated “clearly established” law. And even when officers are named personally, they’re typically indemnified by their employers, meaning the city or its insurer pays regardless. Some experts have argued that this arrangement turns settlements into a cost of doing business that fails to change officer behavior, because the financial consequences rarely reach the officers themselves or trigger reforms inside departments.23U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Who Is Guarding the Guardians – Chapter 5
Civil suits also give victims standing they lack in criminal court. A victim in a criminal case is a witness for the prosecution with no say over plea deals; in a civil case, the victim is a party with their own lawyer who decides whether to accept or reject a settlement.24Zero Abuse Project. What’s the Difference Between a Civil and Criminal Case
Private Property Owners Face Their Own Crime-Related Liability
Not every large crime-related settlement comes out of a city budget. Property owners and businesses face substantial exposure in “negligent security” cases, which allege the owner knew about crime patterns on or near the premises but failed to install basic safeguards like guards, fencing, cameras, or adequate lighting. Recent payouts include a $24 million settlement in 2024 for a person shot at a fast-food restaurant, a $22.25 million settlement in 2025 for a young man shot at a MARTA bus stop, and a $21 million wrongful death settlement in 2026 involving a shooting in a shopping center parking lot. Apartment complexes are a recurring setting, with multiple settlements above $10 million tied to shootings at residential properties where owners allegedly ignored known risks.25Pete Law Attorney. Significant Cases These cases are paid by private defendants and their insurers, not taxpayers, but they contribute to the larger picture of crime-related civil liability.
Where the Costs Are Heading
The volume of crime-related settlements has become a fiscal reality cities can no longer absorb quietly. Chicago’s wrongful conviction payouts alone topped $106.5 million in early 2026, and the city is still paying installments on the $90 million Watts settlement.26WTTW News. Chicago Has Spent at Least $175.6M to Resolve Police Misconduct Lawsuits In New York, roughly $42 million of the 2025 settlement total went to wrongful conviction cases.1ABC7 New York. NYC Paid $117 Million to Settle NYPD Police Misconduct Lawsuits The totals continue to climb as DNA testing exonerates more people, old cases are reopened, and courts work through the consequences of decades-old misconduct now being fully reckoned with.