Settlements

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.