Settlements

City taxpayers paid $710 million total between May 2011 and May 2023 to resolve more than 2,500 cases. As of July 2023, the Chicago City Council was debating how to address concerns about the escalating costs of resolving police misconduct lawsuits.

The settlement came amid growing concerns over the financial and social costs of police misconduct in Chicago. The Chicago City Council on July 19, 2023, narrowly rejected a proposed $2 million settlement with the family of Darius Cole-Garrit, a twenty-one-year-old man fatally shot by police in 2014 after allegedly pointing a gun at officers. Chicago’s Independent Police Review Authority had previously found the shooting justified.

The settlement came amid growing concerns over the financial and social costs of police misconduct in Chicago.

The settlement came amid growing concerns over the financial and social costs of police misconduct in Chicago.

In addition to the monetary settlement, Yuba City also agreed to randomly audit body camera footage from officers and review instances where force is used. On April 12, 2020, Yuba City Police officers handcuffed Gross, slammed him on the ground, and held him facedown. Officers’ body camera footage also showed Gross stating that he could not breathe or feel his legs. The officers’ use of force left Gross with a broken neck and unable to walk. He had two surgeries to repair his spine and now needs round-the-clock nursing care for the rest of his life. As of June 2023, the officers were still employed by Yuba City Police.  

A judge overturned his conviction and he was released in 2017, prompting Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx to drop the charges against him. Brown received a certificate of innocence the next year. Brown alleged that he confessed to setting the fire after a detective choked him and chained him to a wall for five hours, but prosecutors presented no evidence in court to bolster this confession. Brown also sued Cook County, alleging that he was convicted, in part, because prosecutors lied to the jury.

Officer Joseph Lisciandrello shot and killed Brown, age twenty-six, during a May 2019 foot chase after officers stopped Brown. The City Council approved the settlement because Lisciandrello turned off his body-worn camera before firing nine times at Brown, killing him.

Habasek-Bonelli was unarmed when Simonetti confronted him outside his home in August 2021. Following the confrontation, Habasek-Bonelli was hospitalized and treated for trauma to his head and face, including a nasal fracture and lacerations that required stitches. Simonetti was stripped of his police powers after being charged with felony battery and official misconduct, and his criminal case was ongoing as of June 2023.

On June 23, 2015, Ramirez’s mother called 911 to report that her son was suicidal. When El Paso Police Officer Ruben Escajeda saw Ramirez attempting to hang himself, he fired his Taser at Ramirez, who then died. This was the second time in less than sixteen months that El Paso opted to settle a case involving the use of deadly force by police against people in a mental health crisis. Both lawsuits alleged that, under the leadership of late Police Chief Greg Allen, the El Paso Police Department poorly trained its officers on how to respond to mental health cases.

When the van braked hard, Cox was sent headfirst into a metal partition. Following the crash, officers mocked Cox, accused him of faking his injuries, and dragged him by his feet out of the van and into a holding cell before he was eventually taken to a hospital. Cox had been arrested on gun-related charges, which were later dismissed. Five officers involved, including two recently fired, were facing criminal charges as of 2023. Cox’s lawsuit initially sought $100 million. The case spurred police reforms in New Haven, including mandatory seatbelt use for all people being transported by police.

In September 2020, Barnett called the Palm Springs Police Department’s non-emergency number to request a peaceful exchange of custody of her five-year-old daughter to her estranged husband. When Officer Michael Delaney arrived at Barnett’s home, however, he wrongfully told her that a temporary restraining order was in place that enjoined her from being present at her home. Delaney then arrested Barnett and drove her to the police station, but he then became aware that she had not been restrained from going to or occupying her home. Shortly thereafter, the patrol sergeant drove Barnett back to her home and released her from custody.

Under the terms of the settlement, former Officer Laurel Falconieri would receive $1.15 million, and Detective Leslie Martinez would receive $550,000.

According to court records, Clear Creek County agreed to pay $10 million, the Colorado State Office of Risk Management agreed to pay $3 million on behalf of the Colorado State Patrol and Colorado Department of Revenue, the Town of Georgetown agreed to pay $5 million, and the City of Idaho Springs agreed to pay $1 million. On June 10, 2022, Glass’s SUV became stuck in the mountain town of Silver Plume. Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Deputy Andrew Buen fatally shot him after Glass refused to get out of the SUV and law enforcement officers breached the vehicle. The settlement included reforms to officer training and crisis response. For example, Clear Creek County agreed to establish a crisis response team, and Colorado agreed to create a virtual reality training scenario for the Colorado State Patrol based on the shooting that will focus on de-escalation.

Austin Police officers allegedly hit Alexander, who was pregnant at the time, with “less-lethal” gunfire once in the stomach and once in the back. As of May 2023, Austin had agreed to pay more than $18.9 million in settlements to fifteen people injured by Austin Police officers during the 2020 protests. The lawsuits alleged that police officers used excessive force.

Code’s lawsuit alleged that Chauvin used excessive force even though Code posed no threat while handcuffed and was not resisting arrest. Chauvin allegedly twisted Code’s wrists and arms, slammed her head on the ground, pinned his knee to the back of her neck, and restrained her for four minutes and forty-one seconds. The second officer who was present did not intervene, and a supervising sergeant approved the use of force. Neither Chauvin nor the other officers faced disciplinary action.

The settlement was among several paid out by Denver over allegations of police misconduct during the summer of 2020.

The original complaint filed against police officers and the City of Scottsdale sought at least $300,000 in damages. The lawsuit alleged that Officer Brian Steel and Officer Nicolas Fay “failed to take basic investigation steps in connection with establishing reasonable suspicion and probable cause,” and that they wrongfully arrested Garcia for a hit-and-run on a night when her car remained parked while she and her boyfriend went to clubs with friends. Garcia alleged that the officers repeatedly asserted that she was lying about her alibi instead of consulting readily available video and receipt-based evidence.

The lawsuit alleged that Kroll’s actions as a de facto policymaker led police to use excessive force against demonstrators in the protests that followed the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis Police Department officer. Under the terms of the settlement, Kroll also agreed that he would not serve on the Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training, and that he would testify in any trials related to the suit.

In 2017, when Pope was fourteen years old, officers were called to his home for a reported domestic disturbance. According to the lawsuit, Chauvin rushed Pope and struck him multiple times on the head with a large flashlight, then pinned him to the floor with his knee—the same tactic Chauvin used on George Floyd. Chauvin then held Pope in the prone position while handcuffed for fifteen minutes. None of the other responding officers intervened.

Hundreds of current and former police officers would each receive at least $45,000. The decade-old lawsuit involved officers from Boston, Brockton, Lawrence, Lowell, Methuen, Springfield, and Worcester, along with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of 343 people, alleged that the officers’ response left protesters with physical injuries that, in some cases, required medical treatment or hospitalization, as well as emotional anguish. The lawsuit was filed by the Legal Defense Fund, the Abolitionist Law Center, and Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing, Feinberg, and Lin LLP. The Legal Defense Fund released a statement explaining that the City also agreed to disengage from the federal 1033 program, which arms state and local law enforcement with military weapons.

The settlement resolved a 2018 federal lawsuit filed by Shirley Johnson after her father, Elbert Davis Sr., was killed and her mother, Phosa Cain, was seriously injured when their vehicle was struck by two men fleeing the police. The high-speed police chase occurred after officers claimed that they witnessed a suspected drug transaction involving Umar Burley and Brent Matthews. However, police later admitted that they had planted heroin inside the car, and Burley and Matthews had their convictions vacated in 2017 after serving multiple years in prison. As of March 2023, Baltimore had paid a total of $22.2 million to settle nearly forty cases involving the GTTF.

A report and video produced by Human Rights Watch and Situ Research documented how, on June 4, 2020, NYPD officers surrounded, assaulted, and arrested hundreds of protesters with no provocation or warning in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the South Bronx.

In December 2017, California serial hoax-caller Tyler Barriss called police to falsely report a murder-hostage situation at Finch’s address. Finch, who was unarmed and unaware of the phony emergency call, stepped onto his porch and was surrounded by officers. The officers did not identify themselves as law enforcement as they shouted contradictory commands. Within ten seconds, Rapp shot Finch in the chest from forty yards away even though Finch had not committed a crime or threatened officers or anyone else. The Finch family battled the City in court for five years before reaching the settlement.

Jones claimed he was discriminated against after being passed over for a chief position and a captain position.