The investigation by the Reader and Lucy Parsons Labs into the Chicago Police Department’s use of civil forfeiture money began with a single, tantalizing detail in a single FOIA’d document.
“Because this equipment will be used for [REDACTED] investigations in to [sic] [word missing] [I] recommend that it be paid for with both 1505 and 1505ML funds in equal amounts,” he wrote.
Eventually we had a list of more than 600 checks we wanted to FOIA (around 550 for 2010 through 2015). But we ran into another roadblock. Again, under the Illinois law, a government agency may take longer to respond if a person sends multiple requests in a short period of time.
You can read our full investigation, dig into the details of CPD’s purchases, and see copies of all of our documents here.
