We identified 227 publicly reported settlements that resulted in policy changes and over $2,370,465,597.00 in monetary compensation to victims.

Data last updated July 9, 2025.

Settlements
Location Year Description Outcome
Whitman, Massachusetts 2022

Sergeant Edward Slocum filed a lawsuit against the Town of Whitman, Massachusetts, former Police Chief Scott Benton, and former Town Administrator Frank Lynam for discrimination due to his disabilities.

The case was settled for $250,000. Slocum claimed that the department and the town did not accommodate his disabilities—migraine headaches, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. After Slocum disclosed his disabilities, people around him raised their concerns about whether he “posed a significant threat” to himself or others, leading to an internal affairs investigation that placed Slocum on administrative leave for months. He also claimed that he was retaliated against because of these disabilities and the treatments he used to alleviate symptoms. 

Compensation
$250,000.00
Baltimore, Maryland 2022

In 2019, the family of Malcolm Bryant filed a lawsuit against the Baltimore Police Department, Detective William F. Ritz, and Forensic Analyst Barry Verger for their role in Bryant’s wrongful conviction. The City agreed to settle the case for $8 million in 2022.

Bryant was convicted of murdering Toni Bullock, a sixteen-year-old girl, in 1998 and spent seventeen years incarcerated for a crime he did not commit. He was later exonerated through the use of DNA evidence in 2016, but he passed away within a year of his release from prison. His family later filed a lawsuit against the Baltimore Police Department, Ritz, and Verger, arguing that they did not disclose exculpatory evidence and destroyed evidence that would have proved Bryant’s innocence. 

Compensation
$8,000,000.00
Chicago, Illinois 2022

In 2017, Darrin Johnson was run over by an unmarked SUV driven by Officer Ronald Ayala. Johnson sued for negligence, and the City Council’s Finance Committee authorized a settlement of $400,000.

Johnson claimed that Ayala was speeding and failed to keep a lookout for pedestrians, and he fractured both of Johnson’s knees after running him over. Ayala claimed that this was because he and his partner had been following another SUV that was 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 other SUV. Neither the police car nor the officers had camera equipment.

Compensation
$400,000.00
Redmond, Washington 2022

The family of Andrea Thomas Churna was preparing to file a lawsuit against the City of Redmond, Washington, after police fatally shot Churna in her apartment, but the City settled for $7.5 million before the case was filed.

In September 2020, Churna called 911 and said that a stalker was trying to kill her. Officers who arrived at her apartment suspected that Churna may have been experiencing mental health issues. The officers asked Churna whether she owned a firearm. Churna complied with officers’ demands to get on the ground, but officers fired their guns at her. She was shot by Officer Daniel Mendoza while face down on the ground and unarmed. The medical examiner later recovered six rifle bullets from her body and ruled her death a homicide. 

Compensation
$7,500,000.00
Minneapolis, Minnesota 2022

Damareion McKizzie filed a lawsuit against five police officers and the City of Minneapolis, Minnesota, for excessive force and civil rights violations during his arrest in 2021.

The Minneapolis City Council approved a $50,000 settlement in April 2022. In March 2021, McKizzie, who was seventeen years old at the time, was exercising at a gym when he heard loud noises and went outside to investigate. As McKizzie tried to cross a street, Officer William Gregory stopped him, shoved him aggressively, and punched him. Other officers grabbed McKizzie by his hoodie and pulled him, then pinned him to the ground and handcuffed him. Officers took him to a local detention center and later sent him to a hospital in an ambulance, using two sets of handcuffs. McKizzie was subsequently taken back to the detention center but was never charged. This incident was recorded by both the officers’ body cameras and a civilian, and an internal affairs investigation was launched soon after. 

Compensation
$50,000.00
Washington, District of Columbia 2022

In response to four different lawsuits related to public demonstrations in June 2020, the Biden Administration has settled some legal claims and agreed to implement changes to the U.S. Park Police and Secret Service policies related to public demonstrations.

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.

Policy changes
Denver, Colorado 2022

In March 2022, a federal jury awarded $14 million to twelve activists who claimed police misconduct in Denver, Colorado, during protests following George Floyd’s murder.

In June 2020, a dozen activists filed a civil suit claiming that the Denver Police Department used excessive force during protests against police brutality and racial injustice. A federal judge issued a temporary injunction barring the Police Department 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. While Denver had previously settled civil complaints due to police violence during the 2020 protests, this was the first in the nation to go to trial.

Policy changes
Compensation
$14,000,000.00
Nome, Alaska 2022

In March 2022, officials in Nome, Alaska, reached a $750,000 settlement with Clarice “Bun” Hardy, an Iñupiaq woman who was sexually assaulted in March 2017 by an assailant who was not charged due to the Nome Police Department’s mishandling of the case.

In March 2017, Hardy filed a report with the Nome Police Department claiming that she had been raped in her home. Hardy filed the complaint with Lieutenant Nick Harvey, but her complaint did not get a case number. Upon following up with the Police Department later, action still was not taken. After a third attempt, she learned that her accusation had never been escalated, 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. The settlement included $750,000 in compensation and an apology issued by the City of Nome. Hardy said she believed that her case was just one of many sexual assault reports by Alaskan Native women that were backlogged by the Nome Police Department.

Compensation
$750,000.00
Tacoma, Washington 2022

In March 2022, Pierce County reached a $4 million settlement in a wrongful death suit with the family of a Black man killed by police.

In March 2020, thirty-three-year-old Manuel Ellis was stopped by police officers in Tacoma, Washington, while he was walking home from a convenience store with a box of doughnuts and a bottle of water. Witnesses reported that the officers attacked him without provocation. Three officers 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 hogtying Ellis. Ellis’ family filed a federal lawsuit over his death, and they reached a settlement with Pierce County in March 2022. 

Compensation
$4,000,000.00
El Paso, Texas 2022

In March 2022, the City of El Paso agreed to pay a $1.2 million settlement to the family of Erik Emmanuel Salas-Sanchez, who was shot and killed by an El Paso Police officer at his home in 2015.

Salas-Sanchez, who was twenty-two years old at the time of his death, was shot and killed by Officer Mando Kenneth Gomez. The responding officers claimed that Salas-Sanchez was holding a box cutter when he lunged at officers, but he was actually holding a brake pad. Lawyers for the Salas-Sanchez family disputed the officers’ version of events and pointed 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. Officer Gomez was acquitted of manslaughter charges in 2019. 

Compensation
$1,200,000.00
Akron, Ohio 2022

In March 2022, the City of Akron reached a $900,000 settlement with brothers Jamon Pruiett and Latrent Redrick, who were shot by a police officer.

In October 2017, an alleged altercation broke out outside of ZAR Nightclub. Officers claimed that Redrick was arguing with a group of men and eventually pointed a loaded firearm at them. Officer John Turnure then approached Redrick and shot him several times. Following the shooting, Pruiett allegedly grabbed Redrick’s gun and shot at Turnure, and Turnure shot Pruiett several times. Pruiett claimed that he and his brother had been getting something to eat when someone picked a fight with them, and therefore Redrick was acting in self-defense. Pruiett was acquitted of a charge of felonious assault against a police officer, and Redrick was found guilty of a misdemeanor for inducing panic. Turnure was cleared of charges, and the brothers reached a settlement. 

Compensation
$900,000.00
Louisville, Kentucky 2022

Kali Coates, her boyfriend, and family members were pulled over by police on January 5, 2019.

After another officer claimed he smelled marijuana on a passenger, Officer Tyler Gelnett ordered Coates out of the vehicle and inappropriately searched her, placing his hands in her “crotch area” and inside of her underwear. The City of Louisville agreed to pay $50,000 to settle Coates’ lawsuit in March 2022.

Compensation
$50,000.00
Minneapolis, Minnesota 2022

In February 2022, Minneapolis, Minnesota, reached a $2.4 million settlement agreement with Soren Stevenson.

Minneapolis Police Department officers fired rubber bullets at protesters without warning during a 2020 protest in response to George Floyd’s murder, with one rubber bullet shooting out Stevenson’s eye. Stevenson bled for months and suffered permanent damage, and he subsequently sued the department. This lawsuit was one of many 2020 general liability claims that an actuarial study estimated could cost Minneapolis more than $111 million, $84 million of which stemmed from thirteen officer misconduct claims tied to incidents within fifteen days of Floyd’s death.

Compensation
$2,400,000.00
Denver, Colorado 2022

The Denver City Council unanimously voted to pay a combined $825,000 to two demonstrators who sued separately after being harmed by the police during the protests for racial justice and police reform after George Floyd’s murder.

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

Compensation
$825,000.00
Atlanta, Georgia 2022

A federal jury required Atlanta Police to pay $1.5 million to Ju’Zema Goldring, a Black transgender woman who was unlawfully arrested and held in jail for six months on false drug charges.

Atlanta Police officers stopped Goldring and accused her of jaywalking in October 2015. The officers arrested her, allegedly while using an anti-trans slur, and accused her of trafficking cocaine in a stress ball. Although Goldring’s lawyer asserted that the officers’ 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 Georgia Bureau of Investigation ran additional tests that came back negative. A federal jury required Atlanta to pay Goldring $1.5 million.

Compensation
$1,500,000.00
Greensboro, North Carolina 2022

In February 2022, the City Council of Greensboro, North Carolina, reached a $2.57 million settlement agreement with the family of Marcus Deon Smith, a thirty-eight-year-old man killed by police in 2018.

Smith was homeless and asked officers to take him to the hospital. While waiting for an ambulance to arrive, several 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 revealed that seven of the eight officers involved in Smith’s case later received merit pay increases. 

Compensation
$2,570,000.00
Colorado Springs, Colorado 2022

In February 2022, Colorado Springs, Colorado, agreed to pay $2.97 million to the family of De’Von Bailey, a nineteen-year-old who was killed by officers in 2019.

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 maintained that the settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing.

Compensation
$2,970,000.00
Springfield, Massachusetts 2022

The City of Springfield, Massachusetts, settled a civil case brought by teenagers who were threatened by an officer who said he would plant drugs on them and kill them while arresting them.

In February 2016, Officer Gregg Bigda and other officers arrested a group of teenagers who were suspected of stealing an unmarked police car. A video showed 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 also brought two civil cases. One case was settled for an undisclosed sum on February 3, 2022. As of February 2022, the other case was still pending and Bigda was on paid leave due to the investigation. 

Minnesota 2022

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota (ACLU-MN) won a lawsuit that prevents Minnesota State Patrol (MSP) officers from attacking or arresting known journalists reporting at protests unless the journalists are committing a crime.

It also requires that previously affected journalists be paid a total of $825,000. The ACLU-MN originally brought the case as a result of journalists being attacked and arrested by MSP officers during the racial justice protests in 2020 and 2021 following the murder of George Floyd. The $825,000 settlement and a permanent injunction by a federal judge prevent MSP officers from arresting or threatening to arrest journalists, seizing recording equipment, and telling journalists to disperse. The settlement also requires the deployment of a media ombudsman and liaison during future civil unrest. 

Policy changes
Compensation
$825,000.00
San Francisco, California 2022

In February 2022, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors agreed to pay $700,000 to Dacari Spiers, who was beaten by an officer in 2019.

Officers responded to a call alleging that Spiers was engaging in domestic violence toward his girlfriend. While officers found no evidence of any attack, Officer Terrance Stangel beat Spiers with a baton and broke two of his bones. Stangel faced criminal charges for his 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. 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. 

Compensation
$700,000.00
San Francisco, California 2022

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors agreed to pay $225,000 to settle San Francisco Police Department Officer Brendan Mannix’s accusations of discrimination by the department based on his sexual orientation.

Mannix alleged that he faced workplace discrimination and harassment for being gay. Police 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.

Compensation
$225,000.00
New York, New York 2022

New York City officials agreed to pay a $387,000 settlement to Dounya Zayer, a twenty-two-year-old woman who was pushed to the ground by a New York Police Department (NYPD) officer while protesting George Floyd’s murder in May 2020.

NYPD Officer Vincent D’Andraia shoved Zayer to the ground during a protest in Brooklyn. Zayer was subsequently hospitalized, and she experienced a concussion and a seizure, among other serious injuries. A video of the incident went viral online, and Zayer filed a lawsuit. 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 was required to personally contribute $3,000. In addition, D’Andraia faced a criminal charge of misdemeanor assault as a result of the encounter. 

Compensation
$387,000.00
Canaan, New Hampshire 2022

Crystal Wright sued the town of Canaan, New Hampshire, after being assaulted by former town police Officer Samuel Provenza during a traffic stop in November 2017.

According to Wright’s lawsuit, Provenza had a well-known reputation for using excessive force even prior to her 2017 experience with him. During the traffic stop, Provenza allegedly dragged Wright out of her car, handcuffed her, and hit her in the knee, which tore her ACL, despite Wright’s compliance with the arrest. Canaan agreed to pay Wright $160,000 in compensation in February 2022.

Compensation
$160,000.00
Austin, Texas 2022

Austin, Texas, officials agreed to a $10 million settlement with Justin Howell and Anthony Evans, two protesters who were injured while rallying against police brutality following the murders of George Floyd and Michael Ramos in 2020.

Howell and Evans each sustained serious injuries from beanbag rounds shot by police during the demonstrations. Howell, who suffered brain damage, received $8 million, which at the time was the highest amount ever awarded in an excessive force case involving an Austin police officer. Evans received $2 million. The immense backlash to the violent police response to the demonstrations resulted in the indictment of at least nineteen officers accused of excessive force, and it led the Austin Police Department to stop using less-lethal weapons such as beanbag rounds.

Policy changes
Compensation
$10,000,000.00
Travelers Rest, South Carolina 2022

The City and Police Department of Travelers Rest, South Carolina, settled a lawsuit involving negligence and negligent supervision brought by a teenager who was sexually assaulted and threatened by a police officer.

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

Compensation
Undisclosed

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