CHICAGO (AP) — Community leaders say the city of Chicago pursues a “two-faced” strategy of acknowledging an ugly history of police brutality in public while directing its lawyers to deny that legacy in court when victims sue.

That allegation came in a filing in Chicago’s U.S. District Court on behalf of nearly 50 civic, business and religious leaders.

They say the city’s approach delays just payouts and costs the city tens of millions in legal fees that could otherwise go to social programs or reducing taxes.

The filing is in a lawsuit by James Gibson, who was freed after 29 years when courts agreed officers under then-police commander Jon Burge tortured him into implicating himself in the 1989 slayings of two men. Gibson was later granted a certificate of innocence.