Settlements

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.