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.
The officer works for the state government, so his/her salary is paid by the state government. I’m not suggesting we change that. But, each officer should have to pay for his or her own malpractice insurance out of pocket. After enough risky behavior, the officer’s insurance would be unaffordable, making them unable to retain/find work as a police officer. This would chance the practice of taxpayers having to fork out multimillion dollar payments to victims of crimes committed by officers. Instead, insurance companies would be making those payments.
And who pays the officer’s salary so they can afford to pay the malpractice insurance?
The officer works for the state government, so his/her salary is paid by the state government. I’m not suggesting we change that. But, each officer should have to pay for his or her own malpractice insurance out of pocket. After enough risky behavior, the officer’s insurance would be unaffordable, making them unable to retain/find work as a police officer. This would chance the practice of taxpayers having to fork out multimillion dollar payments to victims of crimes committed by officers. Instead, insurance companies would be making those payments.