Settlements

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, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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, 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.

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.

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 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.

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

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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.

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.