Settlements

Jaime Bunkholt, an Atlanta-based photographer, alleged in her federal lawsuit that an unidentified Minneapolis police officer fired a rubber bullet that hit her in the back of the head. Bunkholt sustained permanent and temporary injuries, including a concussion, from the attack. The Minneapolis City Council agreed to settle Bunkholt’s lawsuit by paying out $500,000.

Potter initially detained Wright for an expired tag and an illegal air freshener and later found out that he had an outstanding warrant. Potter, who had a trainee with her, then proceeded to shoot and kill Wright after alleging she mistook her gun for a taser. The 26-year police veteran was later sentenced to two years in prison for manslaughter. Wright’s murder occurred less than a year after the Minneapolis Police Department murdered George Floyd and occurred less than 10 miles away.  Additionally, the settlement is “in exchange for a release of the City, its employees, and Kim Potter from any claims or actions stemming from Mr. Wright’s death.” The settlement also requires new policies and procedures for Brooklyn Center Police Officers, including trainings that focus on implicit bias, weapons confusion, de-escalation, and how to navigate mental health crises.

Hutchins Sr. was pepper sprayed and beaten with batons by a Springfield police officer while he was trying to defuse a domestic incident. The jury for the case found that, “the city of Springfield had a custom of failing to discipline officers and this custom demonstrated deliberate indifference to the rights” of citizens.

After Aguirre left a one-vehicle wreck in 2013, police officers responded, approached him, flipped him over a median onto the ground, put their weight on him for five and a half minutes, and waited an additional three minutes before giving him medical aid. The family originally filed suit back in 2015. The medical examiner in this case ruled Aguirre’s cause of death as “positional asphyxiation” and “excited delirium.” The latter term is overwhelmingly used in police custody deaths, although the medical examiner did rule Aguirre’s death a homicide. The settlement came after the 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals had determined that SAPD officers were not entitled to qualified immunity in the case.

The lawsuit was connected to a 2020 March to the Polls event, where sheriff’s and police officers pepper sprayed marchers, including children and the elderly, for blocking a street without permission. Under the terms of the settlement, both the police department and sheriff’s office do not claim any responsibility for the incident.

Lamonta Gladley filed the lawsuit against Officer Tyler Ryan Timberlake back in early 2021, alleging that Timberlake used excessive force against him and falsely arrested him. Timberlake was charged with misdemeanor assault but was found not guilty by a grand jury.

Jackson Jr. and Stallings were in a parking lot in Minneapolis in May 2020 when a Minneapolis SWAT team member fired 40mm plastic projectiles which hit Stallings in the chest. Body camera video footage shows that the SWAT team drove around in an unmarked white cargo van, firing plastic projectiles at people out after a curfew imposed in the wake of protests over the murder of George Floyd. Stalling mistook the officers for white supremacists and responded to being shot at by firing back with his pistol. Stallings, an Army veteran, was acquitted of all charges and testified that he missed on purpose. The officers jumped out of the van and, even though Stallings and Jackson both tried to surrender, and video shows them on their knees with their hands up, they beat Stallings for 30 seconds, and beat and tased Jackson for two minutes. 

In June 2014, then 21-year-old Xavier Ingram, came across three Camden County police officers on foot patrol, conducting a ‘sweep’ of an apartment complex when he was walking to a store. When Ingram exited the store, he was approached by two officers, Antonio Gennetta and Nicholas Marchiafava, who later jumped and handcuffed him even though he had already surrendered by laying on the ground with his hands in front of him. Officer Jeremy Merck came to the scene while Ingram was being arrested. The officers are accused of stomping on the back of Ingram’s neck and back and striking him. Ingram suffered severe injuries to his cervical spine due to the arrest and is now a quadriplegic. Ingram’s lawsuit claimed that Camden County officers used excessive force, which resulted in Ingram’s quadriplegia. The Camden County officers initially claimed that Ingram slipped and fell on his own regard, without any police interaction, but that claim was later shown to be false.

Tirado traveled to Minneapolis on May 29, 2020 to cover the protests sparked as a result of George Floyd’s murder. She said in her lawsuit that police targeted her as she took photos outside a police precinct in south Minneapolis. According to the complaint, officers ignored her press credentials and fired a foam bullet at her, striking her in the face and shattering her protective goggles.

In 1996, Keith Cooper was wrongfully convicted of armed robbery. Cooper filed a lawsuit against the Elkhart Police Department claiming that their police officials, including detective Steve Rezutko, framed him through “false witness statements and unduly suggestive photo lineups.” The eyewitnesses who testified at Cooper’s trial later admitted that they had been manipulated by Rezutko into implicating Cooper. DNA evidence later identified the shooter as a man who was convicted of murder in Michigan in 2002. Cooper was the first Indiana man to be granted a pardon based on actual innocence in 2017.

Cooper’s co-defendant, Christopher Parish, was exonerated and awarded a nearly $5 million settlement in 2014.

Drake was attempting to give aid to an injured protester in downtown Austin when police shot and injured her with a beanbag gun. Drake asked surrounding officers to help her after she was shot, but they did not. The City of Austin agreed to pay an $850,000 settlement to Drake. This settlement brought the total of Austin City Council’s settlements to demonstrators against police misconduct to $13.95 million, all paid by taxpayers.

Williams, who was 17-years-old at the time, was at a protest when she was arrested by Raleigh police officers who dragged her to the ground and zip-tied her hands, accusing her of assaulting a police officer, but Williams was never charged with a crime. Attorneys with Emancipate NC, a civil rights group representing Williams, notified the city of Raleigh in June 2021 of an intent to sue. However, the City settled before a legal complaint or lawsuit was filed.

Taylor was 17 when he was arrested and wrongfully convicted in a 1992 double murder. He said he was coerced into confessing to crimes he did not commit. At the time of the killings, Taylor was already in police custody after being arrested for causing a disturbance. Taylor’s attorneys believe that CPD officers hid evidence which would have exonerated him. Taylor spent 21 years in prison before he was released in 2013 after his conviction was overturned.

Arevalo, who was 23 years old at the time, was standing outside of Happy Donuts when Agent Thomas DeStefano asked Arevalo if he was on probation and then attempted to detain him. Arevalo tried to walk away from DeStefano, but DeStefano followed Arevalo and tried to pin Arevalo’s arm behind his back to detain him. City of Palo Alto in November 2019, accusing the Police Department of violating his civil rights by violently attacking and falsely arresting him. He was seeking $3.85 million for "personal injury, emotional distress, property damage, other damages and the like,” but settled with the City for $150,000.

Scott, a Black man, was unarmed when he was killed by Officer Lee on February 4, 2016. Lee alleged that he believed Scott was holding a firearm, but Scott was only holding a cell phone. Lee was never criminally charged for Scott’s killing, and he left the SAPD in 2020.

Morales and his girlfriend were in a car on South Monitor Street when Cabrera—who was off duty and not in uniform—asked them if they needed help and then began to follow them and yelled at them to leave. They did not, and instead circled the block to find Cabrera still following them. Morales got out of the car and went to speak to Cabrera, but Cabrera placed Morales into a chokehold, punched him, and fired his pistol . Cabrera later told a 911 dispatcher that Morales attacked him and knocked him to the ground, but an eyewitness disputed account. The case was settled for $200,000 and was paid for by the City Council’s Finance Committee.

In 2020, David Bond was shot and injured by a police projectile during a protest in response to the murder of George Floyd. Bond claims that he had been peacefully protesting and following orders from officers, but still had to use a tennis racket and a salad bowl as shields against the projectiles. This lawsuit was one of many filed against the LAPD, which has spurred reforms such as training in the use of these kinds of projectiles.

The lawsuit alleged that Zarro and Corbsiero experienced harassment and were subjected to a hostile work environment because Seely and McDonald had been working together to put Zarro and Corbsiero’s careers at risk as retribution for their refusal to engage in illegal acts. Seely had attempted to hinder an Internal Affairs investigation led by Zarro into one of Seely’s colleagues and personal friend. Additionally, it is alleged that Seeley tried to interfere with cases involving his children. In one instance Corbsiero still charged Seely’s son with careless driving despite the pressure Seely put on him to dismiss it.

The investigation found that officers in the narcotics bureau often used excessive force, regularly violated individual’s Fourth Amendment rights, and often failed to report these incidents or reported them inaccurately. The new reforms will include de-escalation training, new reporting mechanisms for instances of force, and installing a separate, independent monitor to oversee compliance with these changes.

Cox alleged that he had been “kicked, punched, pepper-sprayed and falsely arrested by Westover officers,” because Cox was using his phone camera to record the officers. As a result of the beating, Cox sustained a facial fracture. Cox also claimed that the phone had been misplaced by the officers involved, but the interaction had still been caught on a nearby security camera, and two years later Cox’s phone was found in the WPD’s evidence room. The settlement is being paid by the West Virginia Board of Risk and Insurance, and there was no admission of liability by the City nor the officers involved.

On New Year's Day in 2019, officers Dalton and Fecsko came to Howton’s apartment, responding to a call. The officers and Howton got into a verbal disagreement, which led to officers removing Howton from the doorway. The officers proceeded to beat him, causing bone fractures and breaking three of his teeth. The officers then charged Howton for battery and three other charges, but the charges were eventually dropped. No liability is admitted from the City or police officers from the settlement.

In 2020, King came to Nichols’ front porch and claimed that Nichols had been ignoring his orders and that he had reached for a gun, which was actually a decorative BB gun. In her lawsuit, Fields notes that the BB gun “was used as a decorative spindle in the porch railing” and alleges that King had been to Nichols’ property before and should have known that. King shot Nichols three times. King was not wearing a body camera despite the County’s policy requiring it, and he was not indicted for this shooting. As of April 2022, King was still employed by the County and was one of their highest paid sheriffs.

Slocum claimed that his disabilities had not been accommodated, as he lives with migraine headaches, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and ADHD. After disclosing his disabilities, people around him raised their concerns about whether or not Slocum “posed a significant threat” to himself or others, leading to an internal affairs investigation putting Slocum on administrative leave for months. He also claimed that he was retaliated against because of these disabilities and the treatments he participated in to alleviate symptoms. 

In 1998, Mr. Bryant was convicted of murdering Toni Bullock, a 16-year-old girl, and spent 17 years incarcerated for a crime he did not commit. He was later exonerated through the use of DNA evidence in 2016, and his family filed a lawsuit three years later against the Baltimore Police Department and Detectives William F. Ritz and Barry Verger, arguing that they did not disclose exculpatory evidence and . The case was settled for $8 million and was paid for by the City. Mr. Bryant passed away less than a year after he was released from prison.

Johnson claims that Officer Ronald Ayala was speeding and/or failed to keep a lookout for pedestrians and fractured both of Johnson’s knees after running him over. Ayala claimed that this was because he, along with his partner, had been following another SUV that had been driving recklessly with no headlights on. However, Deputy Corporation Counsel Mimi Ruether said that Ayala’s crash report did not include any accounts of the SUV. Neither the police car nor the officers had camera equipment. The City Council’s Finance Committee authorized a settlement of $400,000.

In September 2020, Andrea Churna called 911, telling them that she was scared that a stalker was trying to kill her. When officers arrived at the scene, they believed Churna may have been experiencing mental health issues. Officers demanded Churna to follow their instructions: dropping to the ground with her hands on her head. Churna complied with officers’ demands, but officers continued to fire warning shots at Churna. At some point, she was shot by Officer Daniel Mendoza while face down on the ground and unarmed. The medical examiner would later recover six rifle bullets from her body and ruled her death as a homicide.  

In March 2021, McKizzie, who was 17 years old at the time, was working out at a gym and went outside after hearing loud noises. He was stopped, shoved aggressively, and punched by Officer William Gregory. The other officers grabbed McKizzie by his hoodie and pulled on him, and then pinned him to the ground until he was handcuffed. Officers then took him to a local detention center and later placed him in an ambulance, with two sets of handcuffs, so he could get to a hospital. He was later taken back to the detention center and never charged. This incident was recorded by the officers’ body cameras and also by a civilian, and an internal affairs investigation was launched soon after.

The lawsuits resulted from incidents where the U.S. Park Police and other federal and local law enforcement violently forced hundreds of protestors to disperse using chemical irritants, rubber bullets, smoke bombs, and batons, during a Black Lives Matter and racial justice demonstration. The Biden Administration has agreed to implement several new policies, including a policy that states that demonstration permits cannot be revoked by the Park Police unless the protestors are presenting a danger to public safety.

In June 2020, a dozen injured activists filed a civil suit claiming that the Denver Police Department (DPD) used excessive force and unnecessary acts of violence against them during a protest against police brutality and racial injustice. This led a federal judge to issue a temporary injunction barring the DPD from using tear gas, plastic bullets, flash-bang grenades and other "less-than-lethal" force unless approved by a senior officer in response to specific acts of violence. After a three-week trial, a jury ruled in favor of the activists, asserting that the DPD were improperly trained in response tactics. The lawsuit notes that while Denver had previously settled civil complaints due to police violence during protests responding to George Floyd’s murder, this was the first in the nation to go to trial.

In March 2017, Clarice Hardy filed a report with the Nome Police Department claiming that she had been raped . Hardy filed the complaint with The Department took more than a year to investigate and a year and a half later, the assailant had not been charged. Hardy filed a suit and was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska (ACLU - AK) in her case, reaching the settlement and receiving an apology from the department. Hardy believes that her case was just one of many sexual assault reports by Alaskan Native women that were backlogged by the Nome Police Department.

In March 2020, 33-year-old Manuel Ellis was stopped by Tacoma police officers while he was walking home from a convenience store with a box of doughnuts and a bottle of water. Witnesses testified that the officers attacked without provocation. The three officers involved held Ellis to the ground on his chest by kneeling, despite Ellis expressing that he could not breathe. Two Pierce County sheriffs responded to the scene and assisted in handcuffing and hogtieing Ellis. In September 2021, Ellis’ family filed a federal lawsuit over his death and a settlement was agreed upon the following March.

Salas-Sanchez, 22-years-old at the time of his death, was shot and killed by officer Mando Kenneth Gomez, who was acquitted of manslaughter charges in 2019. The responding officers claimed that Salas-Sanchez was holding a box cutter when he lunged at officers, but Salas-Sanchez was holding a brake pad. Lawyers for the Salas-Sanchez family disputed the officers’ versions of events, pointing out that the medical examiner’s report showed that Salas-Sanchez was shot three times in the back, indicating that he was running away from the officers.

In October 2017, an alleged altercation broke out outside of ZAR Nightclub. Officers claim that Redrick was arguing with a group of men, eventually pointing a loaded firearm at them which caused alarm. Turnure then approached Redrick and shot him several times. Pruiett then allegedly grabbed the gun and shot at Turnure, resulting in Turnure shooting Pruiett several times. However, Priuett claims that he and his brother were getting something to eat when someone picked a fight with them, resulting in Redrick’s self-defense. Pruiett was acquitted for a felonious charge of assault and Redrick obtained a misdemeanor for inducing panic. Turnure was cleared of charges, and the brothers reached a settlement. 

Minneapolis Police Department officers fired rubber bullets at protesters without warning during a protest in 2020 in Minneapolis, with one bullet shooting out the eye of Soren Stevenson, who subsequently sued the department. He bled for months and suffered permanent damage. Stevenson accepted the $2.4 million settlement in February 2022.

In May 2020, Youssef Amghar, a Marine veteran, was protesting in Denver when the police shot pepper balls and threw tear gas canisters at them. They sued the city along with other protesters, and nearly two years later, Denver City Council agreed to settle their portion of the case for $250,000. The day before Amghar was injured, Megan Matthews was at a protest when an officer fired a rubber bullet at her, resulting in two surgeries to repair her various injuries to her head. The city settled her case for $575,000 in February 2022.

Atlanta police officers stopped Goldring and accused her of jaywalking in October 2015, an interaction that led officers to arrest her, allegedly while using an anti-trans slur, and accused her of trafficking cocaine in a stress ball. Although Goldring’s lawyer asserts that the officer’s tests came back negative for cocaine, Goldring was charged with cocaine trafficking and spent six months in a male jail where she was assaulted. Goldring was released and had charges dismissed after the George Bureau of Investigation ran tests which came back negative. A federal jury required Atlanta to pay Goldring $1.5 million.

Marcus Deon Smith was homeless and asked officers to take him to the hospital. While waiting for EMTs to arrive, eight officers threw Smith to the ground and “hogtied him” – restraining both his arms and legs and then binding them together. Smith was unable to breathe, cried out for help, and died shortly after. Smith’s family filed a lawsuit, leading to the $2.57 million settlement. City records later revealed that seven of the eight officers involved in Smith’s case would later receive merit pay increases.

Officers attempted to question Bailey in 2019 about an alleged robbery and shot him in the back as he ran away. He died as a result of those gunshots. Despite agreeing to the settlement resulting from a lawsuit brought by Bailey’s parents, the police department maintains that the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing.

In February 2016, Officer Gregg Bigda suspected teenagers of stealing an unmarked police car, and along with other officers, he arrested them. A video captured by a reporter shows Bigda yelling profanities at the teenagers and claiming he could plant drugs on them and kill them in a parking lot. Bigda was acquitted of criminal charges of excessive force and abusive interrogation following the incident, but the arrested teenagers brought two civil cases. One case was settled for an undisclosed sum on February 3, 2022 while the other case is still pending. As of February 2022, Bidga was on paid leave due to the investigation. 

The ACLU-MN originally brought the case as a result of journalists being attacked and arrested by MSP officers during the racial justice in 2020 and 2021, that arose from the murder of George Floyd. The $825,000 settlement and a permanent injunction by a federal judge will prevent MSP officers from arresting or threatening to arrest journalists, in addition to preventing MSP officers from seizing recording equipment, telling journalists to disperse, and using chemical agents against journalists. The settlement also requires officers to wear body cameras, prominently display their name and badge number, and participate in training on media treatment and First Amendment rights. Lasty, the settlement requires the deployment of a media ombudsman and liaison during future civil unrest.

Officers responded to a call alleging Dacari Spiers was engaging in domestic violence towards his girlfriend. While officers found no evidence of any attack, they beat Spiers with a baton and broke . The officers involved faced criminal charges for their actions, and Spiers was awarded $700,000 in court. A federal judge imposed sanctions on the City for withholding evidence in the case. The case is believed to be the first criminal trial of a police officer in San Francisco for on-the-job use-of-force. One of the officers involved, Terrance Stangel, was charged with four different felonies: battery with serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, and assault under color of authority. A jury later acquitted Stangel of the first three charges and failed to reach a consensus on the fourth charge, which resulted in a mistrial.  

Mannix alleges that he faced workplace discrimination and harassment for being gay. His sergeants repeatedly made derogatory comments about Mannix’s sexual orientation, leading him to sue the department in 2018. While the city settled the suit for $225,000, it is unclear if the sergeants involved faced any punishment for their behavior. 

In May 2020, Zayer attended a protest in Brooklyn where she was shoved to the ground by NYPD Officer Vincent D’Andraia and subsequently hospitalized. She experienced a concussion and a seizure, among other serious injuries. A video of the incident went viral online, and Zayer filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York in December 2020. New York City agreed to pay $387,000 to settle the case in February 2022. In a rare move for police settlements in the United States, D’Andraia personally contributed $3,000. In addition, D’Andraia faces a criminal charge of misdemeanor assault as a result of the encounter.

In August 2019, then-Officer Shawn Jenkins met a 17-year-old who he mentored through a youth program and brought him to his house. Jenkins subsequently threatened the teenager with a stun gun and sexually assaulted him. The victim sued in November 2020, and a settlement was reached in January 2022 for an undisclosed amount. As of January 28, 2022, criminal charges against Jenkins remained pending, and he was fired from the department following the investigation.

Michael Acker attended a demonstration in Denver reacting to the murder of George Floyd when Acker was shot in the eye with a foam projectile by a Denver officer. After needing stitches, Acker was left with vision problems and filed a lawsuit in October 2020. The city settled his case for $500,000.

In 2012, Baltimore’s Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF) planted drugs on and subsequently arrested Kyle Knox and Shaune Berry. Both served two years in jail before charges were dismissed. The corrupt task force often targeted victims by planting evidence, and many victims served time after being convicted. Not including this $195,000 settlement, Baltimore has spent over $13 million compensating victims of GTTF as of January 2022.

After pulling Hollins over for an alleged license plate issue, Sgt. Michael Bongiovanni and Officer Robert McDonald punched Hollins in the face and stomped on his head, despite him putting his hands up . Both officers were later fired and indicted for assault by a grand jury – Bongiovanni pled no contest to aggravated assault and McDonald was found guilty by the jury. Hollins filed a lawsuit, settled by the Gwinnett County Commission for $400,000 in January 2022, that alleged that the County’s police leaders had ignored the officers’ pattern of excessive force and falsified reports.

In June 2020, Joel Alejo was sleeping in his family’s backyard in Palo Alto when an officer, Agent Nick Enberg, ordered his police dog to bite Alejo during the police’s search for a kidnapping suspect. Alejo was subsequently taken to the hospital because of his injuries. In January 2022, the City settled Alejo’s case for $135,000, yet Enberg remained on the force with a police dog as of September 2022, more than two years after the incident. This was the fifth police misconduct lawsuit that Palo Alto settled between February 2016 and January 2022. Including Alejo’s case, these lawsuits have cost the City $1,282,500.

Might be worth including from the article that: "It’s the fifth lawsuit related to police misconduct that Palo Alto has settled since February 2016, amounting to $1,282,500 including the Alejo case."

Officers arrived at Minjares’ house after an argument with his adult daughter where he asked her to leave in September 2019, and after refusing to provide officers with his ID, he says they attacked and arrested him for suspicion of resisting arrest. The prosecutor declined to file charges against Minjares. Minjares filed a lawsuit shortly after the incident which was settled for $180,000 in .

An officer pulled Brennan over for failing to dim the high lights in his car while driving. Brennan was in the process of surrendering during the traffic stop when an officer released a K-9. The trained police dog attacked Brennan, leaving him with multiple wounds, according to his lawsuit. The Town settled the suit for $325,000 in January 2022.

In March 2019, Amber was pulled over by Williamson County police officers following a car chase.  It was alleged that Amber failed to dim his headlights for oncoming traffic. When two police officers apprehended him, they tased him several times, which led to his death later that night.  Amber claimed he was sick and that he could not breathe while the officers were tasing him. His family filed a wrongful death lawsuit following his death, which was settled by the city in December 2021.

In February 2019, 13 Chicago police officers, who were acting on a bad tip that a man with an illegal firearm lived in Young’s home, raided her house, and handcuffed her while she was getting ready for bed, forcing her to stand naked while they searched her home. Following the incident, Young filed a lawsuit against the city and the officers for failing to independently verify the place to be searched and for wrongfully entering her home. Young’s attorney agreed to settle the case for $2.9 million and, amid the uproar of the case, new raid policies were implemented requiring a department member who is at the rank of lieutenant or higher to be present, as well as a female department member when warrants are being served.

The plaintiffs were among many who were protesting police violence in May 2020. During the protests, the police made arrests and used excessive force, such as pepper spray, tear gas, and wooden batons, against protesters, resulting in some of the plaintiffs sustaining significant injuries. The injured protesters filed a lawsuit in July 2020, and the city reached a settlement with the 32 plaintiffs in December 2021, agreeing to pay $5.75 million to be divided among them. Additionally, the city agreed to implement a permanent injunction barring Columbus police officers from using forms of nonlethal force against nonviolent protesters.

On December 1st, 2017, Keita O’Neil was shot and killed by former officer Chris Samayoa, who was pursuing O’Neil for an alleged unarmed carjacking. After Keita’s death, Judy O’Neil filed a civil lawsuit against the city, alleging that Samayoa had used excessive force that resulted in her son’s death. Four years later, the City of San Francisco agreed to pay Judy O’Neil $2.5 million. Samayoa is currently facing charges for manslaughter, among others, for the death of Keita O’Neil.

Santa Clara officer Jordan Fachko stopped Gomez while trying to find a vehicle that was reported stolen. The situation escalated when Fachko allegedly thought Gomez was attempting to run him over, prompting Officer Fachko to shoot and wound Gomez. Following the encounter, Gomez filed a lawsuit alleging that Fachko had used excessive force and was negligent. A federal jury found that Fachko’s life was in no way threatened during the interaction and awarded Gomez $500,000.

In December 2021, city officials agreed to pay Espinosa $720,000 to settle the case.

In January 2019, during a home investigation, officer Timothy Dronek took Espinosa to the ground while handcuffed, causing Espinosa to dislocate his right hip and suffer fractures in parts of his leg. In December 2021, the City of Clovis agreed to settle the case for $720,000.

In December 2018, Yeager was visiting his girlfriend in Austin when they were robbed. When police officers arrived, the lawsuit alleges that officer Dusty Jester slammed Yeager to the ground and used a stun gun on him and then falsely arrested him. Yeager sustained several injuries, including a concussion, broken nose, and separated shoulder. He filed a lawsuit for wrongful arrest and excessive force against the city in 2019. Two years later, city officials decided to settle the case for $99,000.

In June 2017, two Seattle police officers were responding to Lyles’ 911 call to report a burglary. Officers alleged that she had staged the burglary and that she suddenly lunged at them with a knife, prompting them to fatally shoot her with her children nearby. Following her death, family members filed a lawsuit against the city, alleging that the officers had failed to use nonlethal force to disarm Lyles. After a state Court of Appeals agreed with the Lyles’ family, the city settled the case for $3.5 million.

In 2020, Anthony McClain, a father of three children, was shot and killed during a traffic stop. McClain was a passenger in a car that the Pasadena police stopped for not having a front license plate. Officer Edwin Dumaguindin asked McClain to step out of the vehicle and McClain ran away. Officers claim that McClain grabbed a gun from his waistband and looked back toward the officer before being shot twice. However, no weapon was found on McClain, but a gun was discovered across the street. The $7.5 million will go to McClain’s three children.

One case involved a high-speed police chase that led to a women’s death in 2018. Another resulted in a $175,000 payment to Lavelle Taylor, who accused Chicago Police Detective James O’Brien of framing him for a 1996 murder that was actually committed by Taylor’s brother.

In 2019, Elijah McClain was approached by police after they received a call that McClain “looked sketchy.” During the confrontation with police, McClain was put into a chokehold and paramedics injected McClain with ketamine, a powerful sedative, which resulted him going into cardiac arrest. In the following days, McClain was put on life support and then died. McClain was unarmed.

In addition to accepting the settlement funds, Walter Wallace’s family included a list of policy change demands, which were accepted in the legally binding settlement. These demands include that the City of Philadelphia purchase tasers for all patrol officers, that all officers be required to wear tasers while they are in uniform, and that the city provide necessary training to ensure that officers can safely operate tasers.

Danville contracts with the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office to provide police services. Officer Andrew Hall was convicted in October of 2021 of felony assault with a firearm in Laudemer Arboleda’s death. This was the first guilty verdict of felony assault by an officer in Contra Costa County, a county just east of San Francisco. Hall faces up to 17 years in prison.

Police arrested Al Copeland, a 64-year-old Black man, on the belief he was slumped in his car and intoxicated.

Copeland was arrested and taken to a holding cell. During his detainment, Copeland lost his balance and banged his head on the wall. It was not until five hours into his detainment that officers realized Copeland’s health was in danger, he was then sent to a hospital. Police claimed that they smelled alcohol on him, but Copeland contends that he has not had a drink since 1995. Doctors at the hospital confirmed that no alcohol or drugs were in Copeland’s system that night. Despite an internal investigation into the incident, no disciplinary actions have been taken.

Elon Wilson, now 27 years old, was pulled over and arrested by then-officer Jonathan Freitag in April of 2018. Freitag found a large quantity of oxycodone and two handguns in the car. Wilson claimed that these items were not his. Wilson was fired from the fire department, faced a ten-year minimum sentence, pled guilty, and sentenced to three years and one month in July of 2019. Internal investigations into Freitag’s traffic stops showed that he made a number of “pretextual” traffic stops, where an officer uses a false reason to pull someone over and search or arrest them. No criminal charges were filed against Freitag. In April of 2020, Freitag was arrested after crashing his car into another vehicle while under the influence and fleeing the scene. That case is pending. Wilson was released from prison after serving 21 months of his sentence.

Taylor alleged that Officer Matthew Felitto had kicked him multiple times in the head while he was restrained in the back of Felitto’s police van. After body camera footage was taken from officers, the city agreed to settle the case with Taylor for $150,000.

The civil case, filed following her arrest in June 2020, alleged that Loveland police officers used excessive force when detaining Ms. Garner, who had been accused of leaving a Walmart without paying for her items. Following her arrest, police officers were seen mocking her arrest and neglecting to give her medical attention for her fractured arm, dislocated shoulder, and sustained bruises from the arrest. Garner’s case is one of several recent allegations of the Loveland Department using excessive force in the last year.

Harris and Tatum are Black former officers who filed the lawsuit back in 1994, alleging that Worcester used discriminatory practices when promoting officers within the department, favoring the interests of White officers over minority officers. Both Black officers had passed the sergeant’s exam in the early 1990s but were passed over for promotions. After almost three decades of litigation, the city agreed to pay $1.5 million, which includes retirement payment for Tatum. Harris passed away before the case was settled.

The lawsuit alleged that Harvel fatally shot Roque in September 2017 when responding to a 911 call where Roque was having a mental health crisis. The Austin City Council reached a settlement of $2.25 million with the Roque family after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5^th Circuit affirmed Harvel did not qualify for immunity for the second and third shot he fired at Roque.

Beginning in 2016, the state’s attorney general office investigated allegations that the Bakersfield Police Department (BPD) and the Kern County Sheriff’s Office consistently used excessive force. No specific incidents have been publicly mentioned, but the California Department of Justice concluded that BPD had violated the 4th and 5th amendment rights of residents, as a number of officers engaged in forms of excessive force, including fatal shootings, police canine attacks, and discriminatory traffic stops. The consent decree requires the police department to reform its policies related to excessive force, which will be overseen by an independent monitor.

Jacob Bauer, a 38-year-old man struggling with mental illness, died on August 1, 2018, after being detained by Pleasanton police officers outside a grocery store. During the interaction, Bauer began resisting, which led officers to handcuff him, tase him, and beat him with their hands and batons. The settlement reached by the city and Bauer’s parents stipulates that the officers involved admit no fault or liability for Bauer’s death, and that the lawsuit be permanently closed in exchange for $5.9 million and a private meeting with Department leadership.

The lawsuit was filed following the fatal shooting of Daverion Kinard, who was shot by Officer Johnny Tuitavake after a foot pursuit in February 2021. After the Kinard family lawsuit was settled, another suit was filed in August 2021 against the same officer, alleging that he had used excessive force on Juan Gonzalez during an altercation in October 2020. Gonzalez’s lawsuit is currently in litigation.

Following their arrests at the Capitol building during a protest against felon disenfranchisement, five protestors sued Iowa Department of Public Safety Commissioner Stephan Bayens, alleging that banning them from the Capitol grounds was a violation of their First Amendment rights. The lawsuit was settled after a US District Court judge issued an order preventing the enforcement of the ban. The protesters' bans were lifted, they received $70,000, and the Iowa Department of Public Safety agreed to train its officers assigned to the Capitol on First Amendment rights of protestors.

Goode’s family claims that his death was caused by police officers when they tased him, tied him with restraints, and put him on his stomach on a stretcher, where he suffocated to death because of the pressure on his lungs. The city announced in July that they had reached an undisclosed agreement with Troy Goode’s family.

Members of the Hispanic National Law Enforcement Association and the United Black Police Officers Association filed a lawsuit against Prince George’s County Police Department alleging that the department does not properly handle allegations of discrimination or misconduct by White officers. The allegations detail several instances of racism towards community members and fellow officers. The agreement requires the department to implement changes to disciplinary procedures and equal employment opportunity policies.

The lawsuit alleged that police officers used excessive force when arresting Marquez Smart, a 23-year-old African American man, in 2012. In 2020, after a 2018 ruling dismissing the Smarts’ case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10^th Circuit found that by the time the police fatally shot Smart, he was on the ground with his arms stretched out. The City of Wichita agreed to settle the case for $900,000 to prevent the suit from going to federal court.

Pesoa was arrested in Aspen Hill, Maryland in 2019. During the arrest, Officer Kevin Moris kneed Pesoa in the back of his head and neck after he was already restrained. Pesoa filed his lawsuit in 2020, alleging that he suffered a concussion and severe bleeding as a result of the knee to his head. After video evidence was presented, the Department agreed to settle the case.

The lawsuit alleged that the Department had violated Theresa Taylor’s right to protest by banning her from returning to the Country Club Plaza after arresting her and 100 others during protests against police brutality. The banishment order provided that, if Taylor were to return to the Country Club Plaza, she would be arrested and charged. The settlement clears the banishment order, prohibits officers from adding conditions of bond release beyond those imposed by the court, and requires officers to be trained on free speech, anti-bias, and de-escalation practices.

The lawsuit alleged that Officer Jarom Allred pulled over Donna Miller, a 62-year-old African American woman, for not having valid insurance and, after proving that she did, saying he suspected Miller was intoxicated. Miller was held at the police station for three hours, during which time her car was searched, and was forced to take several sobriety tests, despite all tests, including blood tests for eight different substances, coming back negative. The city nonetheless charged her with DUI, suspending her license, and forcing her to pay to have her license reinstated after all charges were dropped. Following her 2018 arrest, she filed a lawsuit for the racial bias she experienced, and the city settled the case for $152,000.

Arreola died in 2017 shortly after a struggle with police officers who he had called to check on his mother. A police officer allegedly sat on Arreola for over two minutes while he said he couldn’t breathe 16 times. The lawsuit alleged that Arreola went into cardiac arrest following brain damage he endured from the force the officers used when restraining him. In July 2021, the Columbus City Council decided to settle before trial for $500,000. 

The Portland City Council agreed unanimously to a $250,000 settlement. Bruders, who has faced other claims of wrongful behavior, will be partially responsible for a total of about $800,000 being paid to his victims. The city has paid other settlements because of Bruders’ actions including his beating of Jason Cox, a man who was detained by police on suspicion of drunk driving.

This settlement was a result of a family lawsuit against the city and others. Sterling was shot and killed when officers responded to a report that there was a Black man selling CDs outside a convenience store who had brandished a gun. Sterling’s death set off national protests. In 2017, the Justice Department failed to bring federal charges against the officers and Louisiana’s attorney general said the officers would not face state charges.

In 2020, Antonio Arnelo Smith was slammed to the ground by a police officer who alleged that he wrongly thought Smith had an outstanding arrest warrant. In addition to the financial settlement, the city shared that they would create a civilian review board to oversee local police and make policy recommendations. The creation of a citizen panel was Smith’s primary priority in the lawsuit. Body camera footage captured how the police officer pinned Smith’s hands behind his back and proceeded to slam him into the ground, face-first.

The lawsuit cast doubt on police testimony. Cameron Johnson was shot by a police officer who had a brief conversation with Johnson while he was in his vehicle and then started firing. Witnesses were right behind Johnson’s vehicle and confirmed that the officer shot Johnson multiple times and that the submitted police testimony of the situation was incorrect.

On March 2, 2018, Martin got into a verbal altercation with a security guard at Eastridge Mall which led to the guard calling the police. Martin and his cousin were approached by SJPD officer Alexandre Ribeiro who was in his patrol SUV. Court records say the officer drove off the road over a curb onto the jogging trail Martin was on with his cousin. When Martin moved out of the vehicle’s way, Officer Ribeiro swerved to hit the plaintiff and then backed over his body. Martin suffered pelvis fractures, a broken ankle, nerve damage and other lasting injuries.

Baton Rouge officers strip searched and groped two people, including the 16-year-old, on a public street when conducting a “frisk” during a traffic stop. A federal judge said the officers “demonstrated a serious and wanton disregard” for constitutional rights. During a news conference about the settlement, the police chief said department policies were violated during the stop, including conduct unbecoming of an officer, a violation of BRPD's body-worn camera policy, and another violation regarding warrantless searches.

Abby Simon brought a suit against the city and Chief Mark Dalsing in 2019. Simon sued on grounds of gender discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. Additionally, Simon expressed in the lawsuit that she was passed over in 2016 and 2017 for promotion to captain although she had better test and interview scores than the men who were promoted. 

The shooting was captured by Coy, via his body camera. However, his body camera footage does not have sound since he was on a non-emergency call. Coy has a history of complaints. Hill was visiting a family friend when he was shot while Coy was responding to a neighbor’s non-emergency complaint about someone stopping and starting a car outside.

The cases settled involved Tremel Stone, who was shot by a police officer when fleeing arrest in 2010, Rodriguez Howard, who was injured in a car crash with a police vehicle in 2018, Sabriena Chiles, who was unlawfully arrested and imprisoned in 2016, and Raymond Walker, who was pulled over by an officer in 2018 for crossing a double yellow line without signaling. These settlements prompted a push for a civilian review board to investigate incidents of police misconduct.

More than 100 protestors alleged that police officers used excessive force such as chemical irritants, batons, and grenades when handling demonstrators.

Under the settlement agreement in this excessive force case, the New York City Police Department also agreed to stop the use of the high-frequency “deterrent” or “alert” tone on its long-range acoustic devices, which the department has used in the past primarily to communicate with large crowds.

Sergeant Lucas Jones was fired in June 2020 for “violating department policy,” after shooting and paralyzing Jerime Mitchell. Jones was not indicted by a grand jury, but Mitchell filed a civil suit against him and the City of Cedar Rapids. The civil suit alleged Jones engaged in deceptive police practices and misconduct, such as violating police policies and procedures and turning off his recording equipment to hide his violations of police department policies.

The lawsuit was filed in May 2020 and claims that Cook violated plaintiffs’ 14^th Amendment right to due process by publicly releasing their personal information. The photos contained plaintiffs’ full names, birth dates, and home addresses. Further, the lawsuit alleges that since only photos of non-White people were uploaded, there was a violation of plaintiffs’ right to Equal Protection. However, White people have committed criminal acts in Evanston yet were not subject to their personal information being released. Therefore, the complaint argues “[B]y treating minority civilians and Caucasian civilians in such a different manner, Defendant Cook violated Plaintiffs’ right under the Fourteenth Amendment to Equal Protection.”

The city’s payouts include settlements of cases brought by private persons and cases brought by police officers against the Los Angeles Police Department. These payouts are connected to a longer history of the city paying over $245 million to remedy legal claims against the police department over the past 5.5 years.

The payout is another act in a series of police brutality payouts by Minneapolis: it was only two years ago when the city paid out $20 million to the family of Justine Ruszczyk, a woman killed by then-police officer Mohamed Noor.

Millville Police Officer, Albert Chard Jr., testified that he was dragged by David Carpenter’s pick-up truck. Chard’s testimony led to a grand jury indicting Carpenter for aggravated assault on a police officer and eluding a police officer. A surveillance camera nearby showed that Chard “was not dragged across the street and that Carpenter did absolutely nothing to support his being indicted by the grand jury.” Carpenter was emotionally distressed over the incident, rarely leaving his house due to being ashamed. He filed suit in 2018. The settlement was described as a “compromise” made by the city’s insurer “for the sole purpose of terminating the litigation.”

Jorge Rivera and his mother Jennifer Rivera sued the City and County of Honolulu, officer Kirk Uemura, and others in federal court. The lawsuit alleged that Uemura’s son and Rivera got into a fight over a girl. The following day, Uemura arrested Rivera after following his school bus to a nearby high school. He summoned other officers to take Rivera to the Kailua police station where the young boy was detained in handcuffs. The case highlighted the lack of policy in the Honolulu Police Department to prohibit officers from involving themselves in cases where they have a conflict of interest. A policy has since been recommended by the Honolulu Police Commission.

On February 9, 2017, Portland police officer Andrew Hearst, shot Hayes three times with an AR-15 rifle from 10 feet away. Hayes was on his knees with hands in the air. Police had cornered Hayes in a driveway in Northeast Portland, following reports of armed carjackings in the area. Hayes was not armed when Hearst killed him. A month later, Hearst was acquitted by a grand jury.

Harold Cox filed suit, claiming that officer Michael Lamm body slammed him to the ground on September 7, 2018, and shattered his hip when trying to defuse an altercation between him and two women. Cox’s injuries required medical attention. Over a year and a half after the incident occurred, Cox was served an arrest warrant when Lamm falsely stated that Cox assaulted one of the women by hitting her with a homemade doorstop. The District Attorney’s Office eventually dismissed the charges.

Jubal Chaplin and Caleb Beechem sued the city and several officers in January 2020. They claimed that Springfield law enforcement officers unlawfully arrested them, detained them, and used excessive force. Beechem’s injuries included a broken wrist and “multiple deep bruises to his head;” Beechem’s injuries also required 12 stiches to his lip.

Sowl filed a lawsuit against the City of Loveland, the Loveland Police Department, and Loveland police officers Paul Ashe and Benjamin DeLima, Det. Clint Schnorr and Sgt. Brian Bartnes. In the lawsuit, Sowl claimed that the officers violated Sowl's constitutional rights when they arrested him for refusing to answer questions as a witness about a motorcycle crash outside of a Loveland bar in September 2019. Sowl was arrested by Officer Ashe and claimed that he needed shoulder surgery following the incident. The arrest was captured on body-worn camera footage.

The city paid Cisneros and her attorneys $57,900. Cisneros suffered an eye injury when a police officer fired a projectile at her while she and her partner were walking home after a demonstration.

The settlement does not include an admission of guilt on the part of the city or Ortiz. Ortiz has been named in several police misconduct complaints in the past. In fact, “over his 17 years on the job — including eight as the union president of the Fraternal Order of Police in South Florida — 49 people have complained about him to Internal Affairs as he amassed 19 official use-of-force incidents, $600,000 in lawsuit settlements.”

Court documents showed that Bey and his friends, who are all Black, were followed by undercover Livonia officers Andrew McKinley, Eric Eisenbeis, and Megan McAteer, while they were traveling in a minivan to a grocery store on March 16, 2013. Officer McKinley stated that he wanted to follow the minivan based on “a hunch.” The officers allegedly did not know that Bey and his friends were Black at the time of the investigation.

Golatte will be compensated by the city by paying him $525,000 and forgiving approximately $45,000 in debt he owes to the city.

In February 2018, the Chicago Police Board took a vote to suspend Gaeta and Matheos without pay for a year each. The then-Superintendent Eddie Johnson and the Independent Police Review Authority recommended that both officers be fired. The two officers were reinstated in July 2018 and were re-trained. Both officers remain on the force.

Although the misconduct was settled quickly, the officers involved in the incident, Blake Shimanek and Ankit Tomer, remain employed by the Keller Police Department. Puente will receive $200,000, per the settlement agreement.

An internal Albany Police Department report about the case revealed the misconduct of the officers involved, but also general mismanagement in the department. The Albany County District Attorney’s office dropped the charges against Sanchez and Gorostiza after one of the officers involved, Luke Deer, was charged with felony assault and official misconduct. Deer was suspended from the department. The lawsuit of a third man, Lee Childs, is awaiting adjudication.

Boyd was homeless and struggling with mental illness when he was surrounded by armed officers and fatally shot. The two former officers involved, Dominique Perez and Keith Sandy, were subsequently charged with second-degree murder, but their case ended in a mistrial. Jones requested his brother's case records but DPS only turned over some of the records and said they were exempt from such a disclosure due to the investigation being ongoing. The New Mexico Supreme Court found that DPS had violated the state Inspection of Public Records Act and that Jones was entitled to the attorney fees required to battle the issue all the way to the Supreme Court.

Officer Michael O’Sullivan arrested Smith due to his proximity to a gun on the ground. Smith was subsequently charged with illegal possession of a handgun and other firearm offenses. O’Sullivan wrote a false statement saying that he saw Smith throw the gun before fleeing the scene. O’Sullivan repeated this testimony at trial, causing Smith to be convicted.  O’Sullivan was later convicted of perjury, sentenced to 15 months in prison, and then eventually resigned from the police department on December 1, 2020. Smith will receive $100,000 from the city.

One of the men, Ian Andrew Bowman, who received $75,000, said in his lawsuit that officers beat, kicked, choked, clubbed, and stomped on him without legal justification. The second man, Jonathan Ballew, a freelance journalist whose claim was settled for $40,000, alleged that he was “assaulted with a chemical agent.”

Campos filed the employment claim through his police union. Records will now reflect that he resigned from his position, per the terms of the settlement agreement.

Shubert’s lawsuit claimed that the Glastonbury Police Department discriminated against Shubert on the basis of sex when the Department promoted a male lieutenant instead of her despite the fact that Shubert scored the highest on a hiring exam and had more experience.

The case arose out of an incident where SWAT officers threw a flash-bang grenade into Burt’s car in violation of police department policy on the use of these devices. Officers did not announce themselves prior to encountering Burt and did not file a search warrant for Burt’s car. Burt had a friend in the vehicle who was wanted in connection with a nonviolent drug charge. Police did not find anything illegal in the car. Burt suffered severe burns when the flash-bang grenade exploded.

During the encounter, Wright reached for his colostomy bag when police officers fired non-lethal weapons at him. Prior news investigations into the Euclid police department revealed that 20 percent of Euclid officers accounted for 80 percent of use of force incidents.

After receiving a suspension, officers alleged that Howard refused to leave the school premises. Howard was also charged with misdemeanor and felony offenses, but those charges were dropped by the state’s attorney’s office a week after the incident.

An officer with the San Luis Obispo Police Department fired at the dog, claiming it was charging him, but this version of events was disputed by Regalia and Manford. The San Luis Obispo Police Department has implemented officer training on how to handle dog encounters.

Reiman, the brother of Carteret’s mayor, Mayor Dan Reiman, was acquitted of criminal charges in Superior Court. The federal civil rights lawsuit contended that many officers who witnessed the incident failed to intervene because they feared retribution from the Mayor. Officer Reiman has faced numerous complaints of excessive force in the past.

The Aurora Police Department has had issues concerning police excessive use of force for years; the Department rose to infamy when it was involved with the death of Elijah McClain in 2019.

Taylor was killed by plainclothes police officers when they fired upon him outside his home. The officers, Michael Spaulding and Scott Miller, claimed they believed their lives to be in danger when they encountered Taylor, who they tried to arrest for unlawful possession of a handgun. Evidence in the case raised doubt about the officers’ claims that Taylor was armed.

Ryan Cordova was beaten by a police officer while handcuffed to a rail in the holding cell of the county jail in 2019. He will receive $335,000 to settle his lawsuit.

Jessica Guttman failed to immediately identify herself to a police officer, who then was taken to the ground and handcuffed. Due to a preexisting disability, Guttman started to suffer from seizures during the police encounter. Police waited more than 30 minutes to release Guttman so that she could receive medical attention. Guttman will receive $300,000.

Ryan Cordova was beaten by a police officer while handcuffed to a rail in the holding cell of the county jail in 2019. He will receive $335,000 to settle his lawsuit.

Jessica Guttman failed to immediately identify herself to a police officer, who then was taken to the ground and handcuffed. Due to a preexisting disability, Guttman started to suffer from seizures during the police encounter. Police waited more than 30 minutes to release Guttman so that she could receive medical attention. Guttman will receive $300,000.

Officer Clinton Toles, who was off duty at the time, assaulted McDonough at a bar in 2017. Toles identified himself as a police officer to McDonough. Two city officials who approved the settlement noted publicly that similarly situated settlements had done little to curb police misconduct in Minneapolis over the years and that settlement may have come to be viewed by officials as the cost of doing business.

Kolb’s son, who called 911 to get his father medical attention, did not claim his father presented as any clear danger to dispatchers, and that he was simply experiencing a mental health crisis that Kolb has regularly experienced before. Honeycutt claimed he shot Kolb because he feared for his life when Kolb stabbed him with a sharp object, but Kolb’s son testified he never saw his father attack Honeycutt and the deputy’s vest showed no signs of stabbing.

Ryan Whitaker was shot and killed by Phoenix police officers in May 2020, when officers were called to the scene involving a domestic dispute. Whitaker was holding a gun in his hand when he opened the door. Officers perceived Whitaker to be an eminent danger and shot him, although he did not fire his gun and appeared to be kneeling and putting his hands up, as seen through body worn cameras.

The officer involved in this incident was off duty and pursued Chancellor for speeding.

Cumpian, a Black hotel worker, was threatened and held by gunpoint by officer Ronald Kerzaya for several minutes. Officer Kerzaya was responding to a call about an armed suspect at the hotel where Cumpian worked. The hotel manager told Kerzaya that the suspect was White. Kerzaya, however, held Cumpian by gun point for several minutes until the hotel manager could confirm that Cumpian was not the suspect.

In a now viral video, police officers can be seen confronting Weinman and administering a breathalyzer test over an unopened alcoholic beverage. As Weinman tells the officers she had not been drinking and begins to walk away, an officer can be heard saying, “Al[l ]right, you are about to get dropped.” According to the lawsuit, Weinman says that the officers were “twisting her arms, pulling her hair and choking her by firmly pressing a forearm against her throat that hindered her breathing.”

The officers, Thomas Canon and Robert Jordan, were not regular police officers, but instead class II officers that are seasonal positions the Jersey Shore towns regularly employ during the busy summer seasons.

Worthington Police Officers Mark Riley and Evan Eggers seriously injured Rodriguez during an arrest in January 2019 after Rodriguez had surrendered with his hands in the air and ignored Rodriquez’s repeated requests for medical care. When police did respond, Rodriguez had to be airlifted to a medical center and spent five days in intensive care.

As a result of the police encounter, Rosenberg had his arm broken by Niskayuna officers. He now has impaired use of the arm and in his hand.

The injuries Osman sustained after being struck by a Dunwoody Police vehicle resulted in several surgeries and $370,000 in medical bills. Osman was pursued for driving erratically in a parking lot.

Officer Wolongevicz, who no longer works in Manlius, was told that she would be disciplined if she complained about vulgar comments made in her presence by her colleagues. The village and town of Manlius will now offer sex discrimination training to its officers.

The settlement payment will reimburse Giron for his medical expenses, related to the emergency surgery care he received after his encounter with police. There are additional legal proceedings pending against the city by six other demonstrators who allege they were subject to police violence during protests.

Umar Burley and Brent Matthews, the recipients of the largest settlement payment, served time in prison after an illegal car chase conducted by Baltimore Police. The chase resulted in the death of an 86-year-old man. Two separate but related lawsuits amounted to nearly $600,000 in settlement payments. Several officers on the GTTF were convicted of federal crimes, such as racketeering for robbing city residents.

Maurice Crawley and Jabari Boykins will each receive $200,000, after they both had encounters with the same police officer, Officer Vallon Smith, that spurred the lawsuits. In both cases, Smith used violent and aggressive methods to harm Crawley and Boykins.

Andrew Mitchell, the police officer who shot Castlebury, is facing criminal charges of murder and voluntary manslaughter. He is the first Columbus police officer in two decades to face criminal prosecution for an on-duty killing.

A settlement agreement prohibiting the New York Police Department from removing detainees’ hijabs while in police custody was reached on November 5, 2020, nearly two years after a lawsuit was filed in 2018.

The lawsuit may also have implications for police policies in Yonkers. The 2018 lawsuit claimed that it was illegal for the NYPD to remove religious attire for mugshots. Monetary settlements for the plaintiffs have yet to be reached.

During her tenure with the Sitka Police Department, Ferguson was the only female officer. Her discrimination complaint is one of several that has been leveled against the Department this year. The settlement agreement in this case has a unique provision that will allow Ferguson to conduct, at her own cost, an independent investigation into management practices by the Sitka Police Department.

Baltimore County announced in November 2020 that it will refrain from using written examinations for police recruitment purposes. A 2019 lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged that the County was engaging in unintentional employment discrimination against African Americans applicants.

The lawsuit asserted the African American applicants were discriminated against in the hiring of entry-level police officer and cadet positions by heavily weighing examination scores in hiring decisions. DOJ officials argued that hiring examinations were not job-related and disproportionately excluded African Americans.

Eric Uller was accused of molesting several children whom he picked up from predominately Latino areas of the city, beginning in the 1980s. He used his job with the city to gain access to the boys, and the city had a series of reports on his behavior.

Begley’s complaint centered on former Kauai Police Chief Darryl Perry. Begley alleged that he was subjected to retaliation by the Chief and his subordinates for over nine years, beginning in 2012. Primarily, this retaliation came in the form of investigations which Begley claims were intended to force him out of the Department.

Houston’s injuries were sustained after being shot with pepperballs and teargas during the protests. He filed his lawsuit to push for policy changes in the way police interact with journalists covering protests.

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department settled a lawsuit filed by the ACLU on Oct. 29, 2020 to end the use of riot control agents against peaceful, law-abiding protesters and passive resistors.

The case was filed on behalf of Indy10 Black Lives Matter and individual protesters, who were exposed to chemical riot control agents, namely tear gas, during protests in late May 2020. The agreement also limited the circumstances in which the department can use impact weapons, such as rubber bullets.

Mr. Martinez fled a traffic stop and was restrained by Pittsburg Police inside a stranger’s home. The use of the carotid hold has since been banned by the City of Pittsburg. This settlement is one of the largest payments made to a victim of a police killing in California history.

Officer Shaw has worked for the Columbus Division of Police for 28 years. The settlement admits no wrongdoing but agrees to Officer Shaw’s demand that future instances of retaliation be treated as a terminable offense. Three other officers have made similar allegations against the Department which are currently pending.

Jacob Sanchez sustained heavy injuries when Las Cruces Police Officer Isaiah Baker improperly handled a K-9 unit. The city has agreed to pay Mr. Sanchez nearly $325,000 to settle the suit. This is the third lawsuit concerning misconduct against Officer Baker.

Webb, a Black man, was fired at by multiple officers while he was inside his car because they erroneously believed that he might be dragging an officer that had pursued his vehicle on foot. The officers had been responding to a disturbance at the nightclub.

The Vallejo Police Department is currently under investigation by the California Department of Justice after a string of reported incidents of police violence revealed a pattern of excessive use of force within the Department. Police targeted Edwards despite the fact that he did not fit the description of a suspect they were looking for based on a 911 call.

In 2015, Pittsburgh Police Department officers pursued a vehicle fleeing a traffic stop, which resulted in a crash. A 12-year old girl, only identified in official documents as “D.H.,” suffered from brain damage and other significant injuries due to the crash. D.H.’s family alleged the Pittsburgh Police Department had a widespread practice of high-speed chases resulting from traffic stops.

Officer Garcia’s lawsuit alleged that the Baltimore Police Department has a pattern of discrimination against Hispanic men. His suit was filed separately but is related to another settlement granted to Officer Jasmin Rowlett.

City attorneys handling the case have stated that the issues leading to this lawsuit have probably been ongoing for over three years, and other city officials claim that they have been going on for decades. If it continued, this lawsuit could have implicated tens of thousands of warrants.

William Green was 43 years old when he was shot and killed by a Prince George's County police officer, Corporal Michael A. Owen Jr. In addition to the settlement, second-degree murder charges have been filed against Owen. The settlement represents one of the largest payments for police misconduct settlements in U.S. history.

Hall’s family called the police the day of Miles’s death hoping that officers could help manage him safely. Hall suffered from a schizoaffective disorder. This payment settles a civil suit, but a criminal investigation is underway to determine whether the officers involved are guilty of unlawful use of force.

City officials for Louisville approved a $12 million dollar settlement to end a civil lawsuit by Breonna Taylor’s family. The settlement is one of the largest in U.S. history for a police shooting and carries several policy ramifications, including stronger transparency obligations and search warrant reform. The settlement does not include any type of apology or admission of wrongdoing by the city and the police, and the Taylor family is precluded from suing the city in the future for Breonna Taylor’s death.

The Pagan-Alomar settlement represents only one of the multimillion-dollar settlements against the NYPD this year. In 2019, New York City spent more than $68 million in settlements in response to over 1,000 lawsuits.

Lane Martin was fatally shot by a Portland Police Bureau (PPB) officer in July 2019. Officer Gary Doran did not face charges for actions resulting in Martin’s death. According to public documents, the PPB was aware that Lane Martin suffered from mental health issues.

Ronnell Foster was unarmed when he was shot and killed by Vallejo Police Officer Ryan McMahon. McMahon was later terminated by the Vallejo Police Department but will not face criminal charges.

Kubiack’s case raises the “code-of-silence" that discourages officers across the country from reporting problems within their departments. The officer who threatened Kubiack has had 31 internal affairs complaints as well as a federal lawsuit leveled against him. Kubiack initially filed an administrative complaint requesting to be placed back in her assignment with Chicago Police Department’s News Affairs, but her request was denied.

In their claim against the City of Phoenix, Ames and Harper made a $10 million demand. The viral incident resulting in this settlement led the Phoenix Police Department to fire an officer and implement a policy where a report must be filed each time a gun is pointed at someone.

Garvin, who led the Department’s Bomb Detection Canine Section, reported an incident that happened at Los Angeles International Airport in 2017 where he believed a dog handler sabotaged another dog handler, “by purposefully confusing his peer’s dog during a Federal bomb-sniffing certification test.” Garvin also reported inappropriate professional relationships in the Department. After Garvin’s reports, claims started to arise that Garvin was creating a hostile work environment and made racially charged remarks. The claims against Garvin were later determined to be baseless, but Garvin remained demoted and would not be reinstated to his original position.

Two of the lawsuits concerned fatal police shootings of two Black men: Paul O’Neal Jr., who was 18 at the time, and Martice Milliner, who was 27, were both shot and killed by Chicago police officers. Chicago also settled a separate lawsuit concerning a claim of retaliation arising out of a report by one police officer against another officer for verbal abuse and threatening conduct and another settlement involved a claim about armed officers breaking into an apartment based on an inaccurate warrant.

Hayes has developmental disabilities and was unarmed at the time of his shooting. It is unclear why he was targeted by an off-duty police officer, but the incident was caught on video and the officer involved in the incident was suspended for six months.

Antonio Valenzuela, 40, had a warrant out for his arrest for a parole violation. When he encountered Las Cruces officers, he reportedly resisted arrest and fled. Officer Christopher Smelser would later detain Valenzuela and put him in a chokehold. Valenzuela subsequently died from asphyxia injuries. The settlement also establishes new policy changes for Las Cruces police, which will ban all chokeholds and fire any officer that violates this new policy.

Cinthia Thevenin filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Troy Police Department following the death of her 37-year-old husband, Edson Thevenin. The lawsuit alleges that Thevenin was wrongfully killed by Sergeant French during a DWI stop in April 2016. An internal department investigation found that French had forced Thevenin’s car off the road and lied about aspects of the case. Following the death of Sergeant French due to COVID-19 complications, the city ultimately decided to settle the lawsuit.

Detroit resident Kira Thorne filed a lawsuit against the city alleging that the police department violated her civil rights by shooting her dog without cause during a narcotics raid. This is the fourth lawsuit in recent history where Detroit police have shot and killed a resident’s dog.

The agreement also requires that dispersal orders be clearly communicated and repeated in English and Spanish to allow protesters reasonable time to disperse.

The complaint, filed with the Civilian Complaint Review Board, alleged that former detective Fabio Nunez had placed Medina in a chokehold and tased him 13 times when responding to a noise complaint. At the time, choke holds had been banned by the police department. Since beginning as an officer, Nunez has been named in several lawsuits alleging excessive force and other forms of misconduct. After attempting to have the case dismissed, a district judge ruled that the city and NYPD officials could be held liable, leading the city to settle for $567,500.

Rowlett and fellow Officer Luis Garcia were accused of fraternization by their colleagues, who also spread rumors about a relationship between the two. Rowlett also alleged that her supervisor made suggestive comments towards her.

In June 2020, the City of Denver agreed to limit the use of non-lethal weapons, such as tear-gas, flashbangs, and rubber bullets, in order to settle a pair of lawsuits stemming from protests against police misconduct during the summer.

The lawsuits alleged that members of the Denver Police Department misused non-lethal weapons during Denver’s George Floyd protests. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on the activity, but the order was set to expire in a few days. Prior to the order’s expiration, the city announced an agreement to limit violent police responses to protests. The new agreement requires that only police sergeants or above can approve the use of force and all officers must actively use body cameras when interacting with protestors, among other things.

Neither Jones nor Wilson were charged with any traffic violations after their encounter with police. The officers involved in the incident have both been involved in past incidents of misconduct.

The lawsuit also spurred new policy initiatives with the King County Sheriff’s Office, which now requires officers to use body and dashboard cameras. Dunlap-Gittens was shot seven times by officers in a failed sting operation concerning alcohol.

The officer who confronted Atkinson resigned from the Boulder Police Department, and the Department enhanced oversight in response to national media coverage of the incident.

This settlement is one of the largest in the city’s history. Officers claimed that they feared Morales was trying to back his van into them when he reversed off a curb during the chase when the shooting occurred.

The lawsuit stems from a police encounter alleging that Naperville police officers violently detained Reitz, by throwing her to the ground, without cause. Under the agreement Reitz will drop the lawsuit against the city, and the settlement is not an “admission of liability.”

The lawsuit and settlement stems from a 2018 encounter Brown had with the police. Brown alleged that police used excessive force when they detained Brown for parking in a handicapped spot and proceeded to wrestle him to the ground, tase him, and step on his ankle.

Wayne Arnold Jones was shot twenty-two times by Martinsburg police in March 2020. Officers claimed that they shot Jones after he had attacked them violently, and they were not able to restrain him with a stun gun.

Officer Kristopher Clark shot Than Orn’s vehicle ten times when Orn tried to swerve around Clark’s patrol car, which was blocking the exit of an apartment building parking lot. After the shooting, Orn was charged with assault on a police officer but was later acquitted of those charges in a jury trial. Orn is now paralyzed from the chest down.

In 2015, The Wall Street Journal released an analysis of settlement totals from instances of police misconduct among the ten largest local police departments in the nation. Many of the cases involved in the analysis involved alleged beatings, shootings, and wrongful imprisonment. The analysis determined that, between 2010 and 2014, New York City spent $601.3 million on police misconduct cases. In 2015, the city paid $5.9 million to the estate of Eric Garner, who died after being put in a police chokehold. Additionally, a report released by the New York City Comptroller’s Office disclosed that the city spent nearly $270 million to resolve police misconduct claims in fiscal years 2017 and 2018. A recent analysis of data published by the New York City Law Department, detailing information on civil actions alleging police misconduct, showed that in 2019 the city was responsible for over $68 million in payouts to resolve nearly 1,400 civil lawsuits filed against the department.

In 2015, The Wall Street Journal released an analysis of settlement totals from instances of police misconduct among the ten largest local police departments in the nation. Many of the cases involved in the analysis involved alleged beatings, shootings, and wrongful imprisonment. The analysis determined that, between 2010 and 2014, Miami-Dade spent $3.1 million on police misconduct cases.

In 2015, the City of Miami settled a federal civil rights lawsuit worth nearly $1 million with the family of Travis McNeil, who was shot and killed by police detective Reynaldo Goyos in 2011.

In 2019, Miami settled another police misconduct lawsuit for $65,000. The suit had accused Captain Javier Ortiz of the Miami Police Department (who was a lieutenant, and the head of the Miami Police Department’s union at the time of the incident) of using excessive force following a traffic stop in 2015.

In October 2019, the City of East Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania reached a $2 million settlement with the family of Antwon Rose, Jr., a 17-year-old who was unarmed when he was killed in a police shooting in 2018. Prior to the finalization of the settlement, the officer was acquitted of criminal homicide.

In 2019, the City of Portland agreed to a $10,000 settlement with a woman who accused police of assaulting her with a baton in October 2016. According to local news reports, the woman alleged that officers beat her with the baton on the chest and forearm as she watched a downtown protest.

In June 2019, the City of Indianapolis agreed to a settlement worth $2.15 million for Gerald Cole, who was shot twice in the back by Officer James Perry of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, leaving Mr. Cole partially paralyzed.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has settled a number of lawsuits in recent years involving wrongful shootings. This includes a $2.25 million settlement following the shooting of Jonathan Ferrell; a $115,000 settlement award to Charlotte teenager Jeffrey Green, who was wounded in a police shooting; and $700,000 paid to the estate of Anthony Wayne Furr, who was working on a cellphone tower when he was fatally shot by police in 2006.

In March 2019, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a police misconduct settlement of $13.1 million to Jamal Trulove, who was wrongly convicted of murder in 2010 and sentenced to 50 years to life in prison. After spending six years in prison, an Oakland jury acquitted Mr. Trulove in a 2015 retrial, which determined that two police officers (who have since retired) fabricated evidence and did not disclose exculpatory material.

In 2014, Honolulu paid $1.4 million to the family of Aaron Torres, who was suffocated while in police custody. In March 2019, the Honolulu City Council agreed to pay $550,000 to a retired police lieutenant to resolve a 2009 lawsuit filed against the Honolulu Police Department regarding the conduct of Police Chief Susan Ballard, who improperly tampered with recruits’ test scores when she oversaw the department’s training division.

In January 2019, a family received a settlement total of $300,000 after filing a lawsuit against the City of Tucson and several officers of the Tucson Police Department. The lawsuit accused the officers of detaining members of the Wyatt family, forcing them to lie on the ground after they approached a traffic stop occurring near their home.

In 2015, The Wall Street Journal released an analysis of settlement totals from instances of police misconduct among the ten largest local police departments in the nation. Many of the cases involved in the analysis involved alleged beatings, shootings, and wrongful imprisonment. The analysis determined that, between 2010 and 2014, the City of Baltimore spent $12 million on police misconduct cases. A separate analysis conducted by Baltimore Brew concluded that Baltimore taxpayers paid $24.5 million for police misconduct settlements between fiscal years 2015 and 2019.

In 2015, The Wall Street Journal released an analysis of settlement totals from instances of police misconduct among the ten largest local police departments in the nation. Many of the cases involved in the analysis involved alleged beatings, shootings, and wrongful imprisonment. The analysis determined that, between 2010 and 2014, the City of Phoenix spent $5.6 million on police misconduct cases. A separate analysis using data from the Phoenix Finance Department also reported that between fiscal years 2008 and 2018, the city paid more than $26 million to settle 191 claims of police misconduct.

In 2015, The Wall Street Journal released an analysis of settlement totals from instances of police misconduct among the ten largest local police departments in the nation. Many of the cases involved in the analysis involved alleged beatings, shootings, and wrongful imprisonment. The analysis determined that, between 2010 and 2014, the City of Los Angeles spent $57.1 million on police misconduct cases. A separate analysis conducted by The Los Angeles Times in 2018 concluded that the city paid more than $190 million for police misconduct settlements from July 2005 to 2018.

In 2018, the City of San Jose paid a $125,000 settlement to five men who were arrested for lewd conduct in an undercover operation and ultimately found to be innocent. The investigation that resulted in these charges targeted and discriminated against the gay community.

In 2015, The Wall Street Journal released an analysis of settlement totals from instances of police misconduct among the ten largest local police departments in the nation. Many of the cases involved in the analysis involved alleged beatings, shootings, and wrongful imprisonment. The analysis determined that, between 2010 and 2014, the City of Chicago spent $249.7 million on police misconduct cases. In 2015, the city paid $5 million to the family of Laquan McDonald, who was shot and killed by a Chicago police officer 16 times as he walked away from the officer. A separate analysis conducted by local news source NBC5 Chicago determined that the city paid over $45 million to resolve police misconduct cases between January and July 2018.

According to the reporting of local news source 7 Action News, the City of Detroit paid $19.1 million for police misconduct settlements between 2015 and 2018. Two of the larger settlements, for $400,000 and $925,000, respectively, arose from unlawful shooting claims.

In 2017, the City of Ferguson paid $1.5 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Michael Brown, who was killed by officer Darren Wilson in 2014.

According to The Denver Post’s review of data provided by the Denver City Attorney’s office, the City of Denver paid nearly $28 million for police and jail claims from 2004 to 2017. During the same time period, 82 percent of all settlements sent to the Denver City Council for approval (a total of $33.7 million) were for police and jail related claims. In September 2019, the Denver City Council approved a settlement total of $500,000 in an excessive force and malicious prosecution lawsuit filed against the Denver Police Department.

In 2017, Montgomery County, Maryland reached a $45,000 settlement with photographer Mannie Garcia for a 2011 wrongful arrest.

From 2015 to 2017, the City of Milwaukee paid $21.4 million in settlements for police misconduct cases, including interest and attorneys’ fees.

The City of Cleveland paid more than $13.2 million to settle police misconduct lawsuits between 2014 and 2016, including a $6 million settlement to the family of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was fatally shot by Officer Timothy Loehmann in November 2014.

In 2016, the City of New Orleans reached a settlement worth $13.3 million for 17 plaintiffs, including individuals who were injured and families of people who were killed during violent interactions with police in the weeks prior to and following Hurricane Katrina.

In 2016, Waller County, Texas paid $1.9 million to the family of Sandra Bland, who died in police custody after initially being pulled over for failing to signal a lane change.

In 2012, the St. Louis Police Department paid $212,500 to the family of Normane Bennet, who was shot by police following their pursuit of him in an attempt to make a drug arrest. In 2013, the department agreed to pay $400,000 to the family of Cary Ball, who was shot 212 times by police following a pursuit, and also paid $900,000 to the survivors of Anthony Lamar Smith, who was fatally shot by police. According to a review of police settlement cases between 2010 and early 2016, these were among the largest of 44 settlements—totaling $4.7 million—by the department.

According to an analysis of city records conducted by The Columbus Dispatch, lawsuits and claims of police misconduct and civil rights violations resulted in $1.9 million in payouts by the City of Columbus from 2010 to 2015.

According to an analysis of data provided by the Austin City Law Department, between 2013 and 2015, Austin paid an average of $1.1 million annually in settlement payouts, including for police misconduct.

According to an analysis of data provided by the El Paso City Attorney, between 2013 and 2015, El Paso paid an average of $960K annually in lawsuit settlements, including for police misconduct.

In 2016, local news channel NBC 7 reviewed every lawsuit involving the San Diego Police Department since 2008. It determined that taxpayers paid more than $25 million since 2008 to settle lawsuits against the department. Specifically, settlement payouts ranged from $1.1 million (in 2008), nearly $5 million (in 2013), and $9.5 million (in 2015). According to NBC 7’s analysis, the department settled an average of 177 claims per year, and the biggest individual payouts involved police misconduct allegations.

In 2015, the City of Seattle paid nearly $2 million to Nathaniel Caylor, who was shot in the face by police. It was the largest excessive force settlement in the city’s history.

In 2015, The Boston Globe reported that the City of Boston spent more than $36 million to remedy 2,000 legal claims and lawsuits filed against the Boston Police Department since 2005. Twenty-two of the payouts were worth over $100,000, including nine worth over $1 million.

In 2015, Fairfax County, Virginia agreed to pay $2.95 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of John Geer, who was shot and killed by a county police officer in 2013.

In 2015, The Wall Street Journal released an analysis of settlement totals from instances of police misconduct among the ten largest local police departments in the nation. Many of the cases involved in the analysis involved alleged beatings, shootings, and wrongful imprisonment. The analysis determined that, between 2010 and 2014, the District of Columbia spent $30.5 million on police misconduct cases. A separate analysis conducted by The Washington Post determined that the city spent $31.6 million between 2005 and 2016 on court judgments or settlements in 173 cases alleging police misconduct.

In 2015, The Wall Street Journal released an analysis of settlement totals from instances of police misconduct among the ten largest local police departments in the nation. Many of the cases involved in the analysis involved alleged beatings, shootings, and wrongful imprisonment. The analysis determined that, between 2010 and 2014, the City of Houston spent $3.2 million on police misconduct cases.

In 2015, The Wall Street Journal released an analysis of settlement totals from instances of police misconduct among the ten largest local police departments in the nation. Many of the cases involved in the analysis involved alleged beatings, shootings, and wrongful imprisonment. The analysis determined that, between 2010 and 2014, the City of Dallas spent $6.9 million on police misconduct cases.

In 2015, The Wall Street Journal released an analysis of settlement totals from instances of police misconduct among the ten largest local police departments in the nation. Many of the cases involved in the analysis involved alleged beatings, shootings, and wrongful imprisonment. The analysis determined that, between 2010 and 2014, the City of Philadelphia spent $54.3 million on police misconduct cases.

A 2015 analysis revealed that Nassau County spent over $100 million on lawsuit settlements and judgments between 2006 and 2013. The assessment included an analysis of 2,709 individual payments, and included, but were not limited to, incidents of police misconduct.

According to a 2015 analysis, Suffolk County, New York paid $37.4 million on lawsuit settlements and judgments between 2006 and 2013, including for police misconduct suits.

Between 2011 and 2013, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police paid more than $5 million in legal settlements. This includes a $1.7 million settlement awarded to the estate of Trevon Cole who was shot and killed by police during a raid; a $1 million settlement awarded to the relatives of Dustin Boone, who died due to a chokehold used by officers; and a $1.5 million settlement for Dwayne Jackson, who was wrongfully convicted and served four years in prison due to a DNA mix-up.

In 2012, Prince George’s County, Maryland agreed to pay a settlement total of $3.6 million to 10 University of Maryland students who alleged they were wrongfully arrested, and several assaulted, following local riots in 2010.

In 2010, the City of Atlanta paid the family of Kathryn Johnston—a 92-year-old woman who was killed during an illegal raid of her home—a $4.9 million settlement. A local news source also determined that Atlanta paid out nearly $4 million in 22 legal settlements involving the Atlanta Police Department from 2015 to 2018.

In 2010, the City of Fort Worth paid $2 million to the family of Michael Jacobs, Jr., who died as a result of two taser shocks administered by police during an altercation in April 2009.

In 2009, DeKalb County, Georgia reached a settlement of $165,000 with a homeless man who claimed that a police officer drove the man to neighboring Rockdale County and ordered him out of the car. When the man refused, a physical altercation ensued between the two. Ultimately, Officer Ronald Jones was charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, and violating his oath of office.