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Each year, the City of Chicago pays millions to settle police misconduct lawsuits. And millions more are spent on an effort to keep the names of officers who are the subject of police abuse allegations under wraps. For the better part of the past decade, city attorneys have sparred with public interest lawyers over whether the names of police officers repeatedly accused of misconduct should be on the public record. Thus far, the city has been successful in sealing the officers' identities. Last year, The Chicago Reporter became the first Chicago news outlet to make some of that information public. Through our investigation, “Abusing the Badge,” we dug through every police misconduct lawsuit settled by the city--in the local and federal courts—during the past three years and compiled a database of every police officer involved. We also charted the location where the alleged abuse occurred and the circumstances behind each case.