The latest gesture from the Democrats to show solidarity with the protesters by kneeling for eighth minutes forty-six seconds while wearing and Kente and masks for the pandemic looks like cult posturing, and even though there's more to it than that, there may be far more truth to this than most people suspect.
The mainstream media refers to the Democrats new bill as "sweeping legislation to reform American police;" however, it only covers part of the problem. The media rarely ever provides a link to these bills, but in most cases it shouldn't be too tough to find them, although most people won't have time to read a 134 page bill, or in many other cases, much longer. As of this writing, I've only scanned part of the "Justice in Policing Act of 2020," (PDF), but the article above lists a few of the highlights:
It would eliminate the "qualified immunity" defense for both police and correctional officers where their actions have been deemed unlawful, including in excessive force cases
Civil rights protections would be strengthened by making police liable for constitutional violations that are done "knowingly or with reckless disregard"
It would restrict the use of lethal force to situations in which it is deemed "necessary" and after all reasonable alternatives have been exhausted
Chokeholds and carotid holds, such as the knee-on-neck restraint that killed Mr Floyd, would be banned
Racial profiling in federal law enforcement agencies would be prohibited
This bill, and many other bills, probably should be read carefully to be sure there aren't interpretations that enable them to sidestep the high profile claims. A lot of this is written in tedious legal language that could easily confuse many people. One other things, which was not mentioned in the previous article is that it seems to restrict use of "facial recognition technology" on the body cameras, which certainly sounds good. However, they make exceptions when they have a warrant. Furthermore, the government has repeatedly been caught spying on us even when it's not legal, and there's little or no accountability.
Furthermore, this bill doesn't address many other contributing factors, so it's not nearly as "sweeping" as the media portrays it; and, it has little or no chance of passing the Republican control Senate, and even if it did it's virtually guaranteed that Donald Trump would veto it. More important, neither the media or the politicians discuss the most important root causes of violence and how it escalates, which could help understand how to prevent it, even though good research is available. Nor do they remind the public how police wound up being over-funded, while social programs like education, child care etc. that helps prevent violence from escalating had their funds cut over the past several decades, especially in more conservative states, which often have higher rates of violence, despite their talk about "getting tough on crime."
Back in the sixties there was much more effort, nationwide, to study the root causes of violence and learn how to reduce it. This was done by the Kennedy administration, and when he was assassinated the Johnson administration continued it for a while, but the Nixon administration started the get tough on crime approach, focusing on increased reliance on deterrence, instead of social programs that stop violence before it escalates. This was pointed out in both "Rise of the Warrior Cop" by Radley Balko and "Passage of Power" Robert Caro, which both discuss how the Kennedy administration was concerned about the "root causes" of crime and violence so they could prevent them. These two books don't do the best job discussing the root causes and how to prevent them; others like Alice Miller For Your Own Good," Jonathan Kozol "Savage Inequalities," Philip J. Greven "Spare the Child," and many others, often focusing on specific root causes of violence and how to prevent it. However, the vast majority of good research is almost completely absent from traditional media or the political debate about how to reduce crime.
One of the most important contributing causes, if not the most important one, is early child abuse, including the use of corporal punishment, which I've reviewed in numerous articles including Research On Preventing Violence Absent From National Media which explains how the states still allowing it in schools consistently have higher murder rates, between 22% and 32%, on average, than those not allowing it in schools, with the biggest difference in 2018, showing it's getting larger as the states ban it for longer periods of time. This can also be compared by comparing the States prohibiting all corporal punishment of children, including in the home and List of countries by intentional homicide rate Virtually all the developed countries that banned corporal punishment in both schools and at home have much lower murder rates than the United States, with over a dozen less than one per 100,000 compared to five in the United States. Even half developing countries that banned corporal punishment at home have lower murder rates than the united States, and those with higher murder rates have highly unstable governments and many other social problems contributing to violence.
Perhaps the only other major contributing factor to higher rates of violence are abandoned inner cities, with few if any educational or economic opportunities. These cities also ten to have the most corrupt and violent police forces. This didn't happen by accident; it's the result of decades of cutting back on funds for education, child care, social work that helps reduce violence before it escalates, and other programs that have proven to work. At the same time they've been increasing the get tough on crime policies, often focusing on non-violent drug crimes, while ignoring epidemic levels of white collar crime which is done by wealthy people with political connections.
Many of the people calling to defund the police are trying to reverse this pattern; however, the media routinely misrepresents this call, claiming they want total and immediate abolishing of police. There's only a small minority of people that want this. Unfortunately even Bernie Sanders has contributed to this false impression when he recently said, "Do I think we should not have police departments in America? No, I don’t. There’s no city in the world that does not have police departments." However, he also said, "We've got to start investing in education and jobs, not more jails, not more incarceration, and we have to hold every police officer in this country accountable for what he or she does. And when those police officers break the law and commit acts of murder or violence, they have got to be held accountable," indicating he supports a major part of the defund the police requests, even if he could have phrased it better.
Fortunately there are several good alternative media outlets that do a far better job explaining themselves, but we have to do far more to expose the traditional media and focusing only on the ideology of the billionaires that control over 90% of the media. The following is one of the few articles, which was first published on Cosmopolitan that does a good job explaining that defunding the police is about allocating funds in a manner which most effectively reduces all forms of crime:
Defunding the Police Will Actually Make Us Safer 06/11/2020 by Paige Fernandez the ACLU’s Policing Policy Advisor
Policing in this country evolved from slave patrols. It has never been a neutral institution.
Almost exactly six years after NYPD officers murdered Eric Garner in New York City, Minneapolis police officers murdered George Floyd. Activists, advocates, and protesters are still screaming “I can’t breathe” and begging government officials for police reform that will end police violence in Black communities. But today’s demands are bigger and bolder: Now, protesters are advocating for systemic changes that require a complete reimagining of law enforcement in the United States.
American policing has never been a neutral institution. The first U.S. city police department was a slave patrol, and modern police forces have directed oppression and violence at Black people to enforce Jim Crow, wage the War on Drugs, and crack down on protests. When people ask for police reform, many are actually asking for this oppressive system to be dismantled and to invest in institutions, resources, and services that help communities grow and thrive. That’s why many protestors and activists, following in the footsteps of Black-led grassroots groups, are demanding immediate defunding of police departments.
The idea of defunding, or divestment, is new to some folks, but the basic premise is simple: We must cut the astronomical amount of money that our governments spend on law enforcement and give that money to more helpful services like job training, counseling, and violence-prevention programs. Each year, state and local governments spend upward of $100 billion dollars on law enforcement—and that’s excluding billions more in federal grants and resources.
Budgets are not created in a vacuum. They can be changed through targeted advocacy and organizing. We can demand that our local officials (including city council members and mayors) stop allocating funds for the police to acquire more militarized equipment and instead ask for that money to go toward community-run violence-prevention programs.
We can demand that our federal government redirect the money that funds police presence in schools to putting counselors in schools instead.
Funneling so many resources into law enforcement instead of education, affordable housing, and accessible health care has caused significant harm to communities. Police violence is actually a leading cause of death for Black men: A recent study found that 1 in 1,000 Black men can expect to be killed by police, and public health experts have described police violence as a serious public health issue. For a country like ours, which considers itself a modern democracy that pushes ideals of freedom and justice for all, that number should be truly shocking.
Much of the work police do is merely engage in the daily harassment of Black communities for minor crimes or crimes of poverty that shouldn’t be criminalized in the first place. Consider this: Out of the 10.3 million arrests made per year, only 5 percent are for the most serious offenses, including murder, rape, and aggravated assault. These are the ones that truly threaten public safety. The other 95 percent of arrests are for things like traffic violations, marijuana possession, unlawful assembly, and even removing a shopping cart from store premises. That means that police spend the most resources going after minor incidents that actually don’t threaten everyday life but do lead to mass criminalization and incarceration.
And as you know, some arrests are made for doing nothing at all beyond being Black.
We have little evidence, if any, to show that more police surveillance results in fewer crimes and greater public safety. Indeed, funneling police into communities of color and pushing officers to make arrests just perpetuates harm and trauma. Yet since the 1980s, spending on law enforcement and our criminal legal system has dramatically outpaced that in community services such as housing, education, and violence prevention programs. Those are the institutions that help build stable, safe, and healthy communities.
For example, Los Angeles’s budget gives police $3.14 billion out of the city’s $10.5 billion. Spending on community services such as economic development ($30 million) and housing ($81 million) pale in comparison to the massive LAPD budget. (On Wednesday night, after years of Black Lives Matter grassroots activists demanding a cut in LAPD’s budget, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced he would cut $100 million to $150 million from the LAPD budget and reinvest those funds in communities of color.) Similarly, in New York City, the government spends almost $6 billion on policing, which is more than it does on the Department of Health, Homeless Services, Housing Preservation and Development, and Youth and Community development combined. Complete article
Policing in this country evolved from slave patrols. It has never been a neutral institution.
Almost exactly six years after NYPD officers murdered Eric Garner in New York City, Minneapolis police officers murdered George Floyd. Activists, advocates, and protesters are still screaming “I can’t breathe” and begging government officials for police reform that will end police violence in Black communities. But today’s demands are bigger and bolder: Now, protesters are advocating for systemic changes that require a complete reimagining of law enforcement in the United States.
American policing has never been a neutral institution. The first U.S. city police department was a slave patrol, and modern police forces have directed oppression and violence at Black people to enforce Jim Crow, wage the War on Drugs, and crack down on protests. When people ask for police reform, many are actually asking for this oppressive system to be dismantled and to invest in institutions, resources, and services that help communities grow and thrive. That’s why many protestors and activists, following in the footsteps of Black-led grassroots groups, are demanding immediate defunding of police departments.
The idea of defunding, or divestment, is new to some folks, but the basic premise is simple: We must cut the astronomical amount of money that our governments spend on law enforcement and give that money to more helpful services like job training, counseling, and violence-prevention programs. Each year, state and local governments spend upward of $100 billion dollars on law enforcement—and that’s excluding billions more in federal grants and resources.
Budgets are not created in a vacuum. They can be changed through targeted advocacy and organizing. We can demand that our local officials (including city council members and mayors) stop allocating funds for the police to acquire more militarized equipment and instead ask for that money to go toward community-run violence-prevention programs.
We can demand that our federal government redirect the money that funds police presence in schools to putting counselors in schools instead.
Funneling so many resources into law enforcement instead of education, affordable housing, and accessible health care has caused significant harm to communities. Police violence is actually a leading cause of death for Black men: A recent study found that 1 in 1,000 Black men can expect to be killed by police, and public health experts have described police violence as a serious public health issue. For a country like ours, which considers itself a modern democracy that pushes ideals of freedom and justice for all, that number should be truly shocking.
Much of the work police do is merely engage in the daily harassment of Black communities for minor crimes or crimes of poverty that shouldn’t be criminalized in the first place. Consider this: Out of the 10.3 million arrests made per year, only 5 percent are for the most serious offenses, including murder, rape, and aggravated assault. These are the ones that truly threaten public safety. The other 95 percent of arrests are for things like traffic violations, marijuana possession, unlawful assembly, and even removing a shopping cart from store premises. That means that police spend the most resources going after minor incidents that actually don’t threaten everyday life but do lead to mass criminalization and incarceration.
And as you know, some arrests are made for doing nothing at all beyond being Black.
We have little evidence, if any, to show that more police surveillance results in fewer crimes and greater public safety. Indeed, funneling police into communities of color and pushing officers to make arrests just perpetuates harm and trauma. Yet since the 1980s, spending on law enforcement and our criminal legal system has dramatically outpaced that in community services such as housing, education, and violence prevention programs. Those are the institutions that help build stable, safe, and healthy communities.
For example, Los Angeles’s budget gives police $3.14 billion out of the city’s $10.5 billion. Spending on community services such as economic development ($30 million) and housing ($81 million) pale in comparison to the massive LAPD budget. (On Wednesday night, after years of Black Lives Matter grassroots activists demanding a cut in LAPD’s budget, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced he would cut $100 million to $150 million from the LAPD budget and reinvest those funds in communities of color.) Similarly, in New York City, the government spends almost $6 billion on policing, which is more than it does on the Department of Health, Homeless Services, Housing Preservation and Development, and Youth and Community development combined. Complete article
If there's any doubt that reallocating funds to where they're proven to be most effective at reducing violence and all forms of crime, then all we have to do is take a closer look at the European countries that only have a fraction of the murder rates that we have. They almost certainly have far fewer police killed in the line of duty, although it's difficult to come up with thorough statistics. I did find two articles, Police deaths: The officers killed in the line of duty 09/19/2012 (This article lists 256 people killed in 67 years and oddly says "the figures rose each year by an average of between 10 and 15 officers," which can't be true.) and Police are killing, and dying, in a vicious circle 07/11/2016 that imply that the United Kingdom and Germany both have about half the police killed in the line of duty per capita, with about four being killed per year in the UK and six in Germany.
Furthermore, by addressing the root causes of crime before violence and other crimes escalate it would greatly reduce the need to keep over two million people, which comes to about 2/3 of 1% of our population, in prison at any given time and save astronomical amounts of money in court expenses etc. and reduce the amount of confrontations with police in the first place. Even without police reform, which we do need, this would help reduce both violence against police and violence by police. And since one of the leading contributing factors for violence and other crimes is poverty and income inequality, which is most obvious in abandoned inner cities, reducing white collar crime and ending a rigged economy that suppresses wages will also reduce violence and conflict with the police.
Another major factor that defending the police will help accomplish is greatly reduce corruption and the enormous amount of money cities around the country pay out in law suits for police misconduct. Since the protests began they reported Since 2003, Minneapolis has paid out $45 million in settlements over police misconduct 06/12/2020 This comes to an average less than three million dollars per year, for this city alone; however many other cities are much worse. After seeing this article mention some of the lawsuits for other cities as well I began Googling "(various other cities, only covering a fraction, but you can pick you own) paid out millions in settlements over police misconduct" or various related keywords and quickly found dozens of articles about many other cities paying out enormous amounts of money across the country for police misconduct. There's a list of the links I found below. It's clear that cities across the country must be paying out well over 400 million, if not closer to or more than a billion dollars every year for misconduct. New York City, alone paid out just over $175 million in 2019, Los Angeles paid out $148 million recently, and Chicago paid out $85 million in 2018, plus about a hundred more cities with more than a quarter million people. Some of the articles that I found indicated that the settlements were secret, implying a possible pattern of behavior; which means we have no way of knowing how many secret settlements haven't been exposed.
What ever the total number is, there's no doubt this money could be spent in a far more effective manner that will help reduce crime, instead of covering it up and sweeping it under the rug. There's little or no effort to stop epidemic levels of corruption or excessive force. In one of the most extreme cases, although not the most expensive, in Philly’s police misconduct cases drain taxpayer money | Opinion 10/01/2019 Larissa Mogano explains that 26 officers being investigated sued for back pay that they didn't earn, since they were being investigated, and got $1.2 million and at the same time the city had to pay out $4 million for lawsuits as a result of wrongdoing by 15 of those officers!
In many cases the tax payers are forced to pay massive amounts to both the victims and the perpetrators, who aren't held accountable at all. The cops often go back to work, and in many cases face additional disciplinary charges, often for more police brutality!
The political establishment and the media act as if the police unions are so powerful that they can't do anything about them, even though they pretend to try, occasionally. This assumption is totally false; the political establishment, including judges that allowed police to continue having "qualified immunity" made the laws that enabled this. If the political establishment and the media wanted to protect the public in the most effective way possible their actions make absolutely no sense at all. They can hold police accountable for shoplifting and many of the orders to clamp down on petty crimes by the poorest people while white collars criminals are allowed to get away with anything come from the political establishment. I've seen a documentary where police invaded a homeless camp for petty offences like collecting "stolen milk crates" which are clearly marked as property of major corporations, yet they wind up all over the place, and this ex-Cop describes a similar situation where they were told to arrest homeless people for collecting recyclables to collect deposits, which they portrayed as being "stolen" from a waste management corporation, this was too extreme for him so he didn't do it until his sergeant called him to assist and arrest a seventy year old homeless woman for collecting deposits.
The political establishment that pretends to be outraged by this, including the Democrats and their photo op, helped rig the economy and allowed policies like stop and frisk, which obviously only target the poor, especially minorities, and usually innocent. They would never allow stop and frisk against a white collar criminal, who they rarely prosecute at all.
I'm no fan of abusive cops, but there's little or no doubt that the reason why we have so many is because of the political decisions from elected officials and training that teaches them to blindly obey orders in an economic system rigged in favor of the wealthy. They often say they were following orders, which is often true; but we were supposed to learn after the Holocaust that following orders was no excuse. Our system is designed to let the police off the hook as long as the police look the other way at much bigger white collar crime while prosecuting those with the least political power to the full extent of the law.
Of course Donald Trump is no better and according to various sources including The Cult of Trump 12/23/2019 and False Idol — Why the Christian Right Worships Donald Trump 12/02/2019 he's either a cult leader or false religious idol, which I've argued repeatedly. However, he only appeals to evangelicals or people with other emotional problems and he seems to be an obvious fraud to many others. Unfortunately in the absence of good educational material about preventing violence in the most effective way possible and many other issues, including how the economic system is rigged, the Democrats may seem like the lesser of two evils.
But, of course, they rigged the Nomination for Joe Biden, and he's not much if any better than Donald Trump. When the police were caught on camera beating Rodney King and there were riots over that Biden responded with the 'Police Officer's Bill of Rights' instead of trying to speak out agasint epidemic levels of police brutality. Now almost twenty years later there are hundreds of not thousands more videos going viral thanks to new technology of more police abuse and he's still defending the police and even wants to give them $300 million more without holding them accountable or even discussing the epidemic amount of money being paid out in lawsuits against the police.
The media routinely rigs elections for candidates supporting Wall Street oligarchs but refuse to cover the most effective research about preventing violence; presumably, partly because their own epidemic fraud helps contribute to the economic inequality and poverty that is one of the leading causes. At this point it would almost take a miracle to replace Biden with Bernie Sanders, so it's virtually guaranteed that we'll have to protest on a massive scale for another four years to get anything done, possibly even if i's only to prevent them from doing anything worse. The Democrats are trying to convince us that we should believe that Trump is so bad we should support Biden, but he's not much if any better, and at least there are far more people willing to protest against Trump than there might be against Biden, so he might actually be the lesser of two evils. But even if Biden is the lesser evil, there's little or no chance he'll beat Trump any way since he has so little support, except from the establishment that rigged the nomination for him.
Absent a miraculous breakthrough many police, in the most violent cities will continue to be occupying thugs suppressing the public they pretend to protect; however, thanks to these massive protests there have been some improvements, at the local level. But it's going to take much more, including more protests, a much more diverse media teaching the public about educational material corporate media suppresses, and covering honest political candidates so they get name recognition they need to be viable, and then we might get elected officials that actually want to push through the real reforms that we need.
The following are some additional articles on the subject, including a list of many of the lawsuits against police officers, costing tax payers hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars around the country:
Biden still wants to increase funding for police departments by $300 million to 'reinvigorate community policing' 06/10/2020
Defund the Police, Defund the Military 06/10/2020 by Medea Benjamin
Democrats Recently Voted to Give Trump Even MORE Police Power 06/03/2020
Biden proposed 'Police Officer's Bill of Rights' two months after Rodney King beating 06/03/2020
Biden, Democrats seek to shut down calls to defund police 06/09/2020
Hill Democrats quash liberal push to ‘defund the police’ 06/08/2020
Bernie Sanders pushes back on idea of abolishing police departments 06/09/2020
Sanders Proposes Slashing Pentagon Budget by 10% to Reinvest Funds in Communities 'Devastated by Poverty and Incarceration' 06/12/2020
There’s No Way Around It: Spending on Police in the US Is out of Control 06/08/2020 by David Sirota
Camden NJ disbanded its police department 7 years ago. Here's what happened next 06/09/2020
The Democrats Who Created the System of Overpolicing Won’t Be the Ones to Dismantle It 06/12/2020
Pelosi And Schumer’s Fashion Fail? The Problem With White People Wearing Kente 06/09/2020
Pelosi, Schumer kneel in silence for almost 9 minutes to honor George Floyd 06/08/2020
Stephen King predicted the rise of Trump 40 years ago — but he says the reality is scarier than anything he’s written (Video with captions) 04/13/2020
Officials respond to videos of state troopers puncturing and slashing reporters’ parked car tires 06/08/2020
The Cult of Trump 12/23/2019
False Idol — Why the Christian Right Worships Donald Trump 12/02/2019
10 SWAT members in South Florida resign from unit, saying they feel unsafely restrained by politics 06/13/2020
Four St. Louis police officers charged with beating undercover colleague 11/29/2019
LA School Police To Return Grenade Launchers, Keep Armored Vehicle 09/17/2014
Chicago's police union president says officers who kneel with Black Lives Matter protesters could be kicked out of the organization 06/12/2020
Police Have Long History of Responding to Black Movements by Playing the Victim 06/13/2020
Supreme Court rejects cases challenging qualified immunity for police officers 06/15/2020
7 Minneapolis officers quit in wake of George Floyd protests 06/14/2020
Jon Stewart says police are basically a 'border patrol' between '2 Americas' who exist to perpetuate segregation 06/15/2020
Is militarisation of Police 'incentivising' civilian killing 06/15/2020
NYPD Cops LIE About being Targeted by Shake Shack Employees 06/16/2020
New Video Shows Police Kicking Handcuffed Black Teen in Tulsa After Arrest for Jaywalking 06/15/2020
A Utah officer pulled his gun on a 10-year-old black boy. He'll keep working, chief says. 06/11/2020
Another Black Man, Tony McDade, Was Shot and Killed by Police Last Week 06/01/2020
As Trump Threatens to Send Military Into Cities, Some GIs Refuse to Comply 06/03/2020
Bernie Sanders Should Embrace the Demand to Defund the Police 06/10/2020 by Meagan Day
Wikipedia: List of killings by law enforcement officers by country
No Sign Of Antifa So Far In Justice Department Cases Brought Over Unrest 06/09/2020
American Cops Could Learn a Lesson From Italy’s Carabinieri 06/10/2020
Missouri woman fatally shot by sheriff’s deputy during traffic stop 06/15/2020
Seattle Cop Forcibly Moves Officer's Knee From Neck Of Detained Man 06/01/2020
Confessions of a Former Bastard Cop 06/06/2020
Qualified immunity explained
The following are a long list of settlements against police, and as I said previously, if you Google many more big cities, including one near you, it's virtually guaranteed you'll find more:
Philly’s police misconduct cases drain taxpayer money | Opinion 10/01/2019 Larissa Mogano, For The Inquirer
For the average person in Philly, having a job means being an at-will employee who can lose employment at any time, for any reason. If you make a careless mistake that costs your employer a lot of money, you can assume you’ll be fired. Make a mistake that causes injury or harm to others and you may receive jail time or pay restitution out-of-pocket over a period of time.
But in one line of work in Philly, not only can you make expensive mistakes and keep your job — you may even get back pay for the time your employer spent investigating it. If you’re among the fortunate 330 or so employees in one city department who make at least $100K annually, that back pay adds up.
What employees have this kind of extreme job security? Philadelphia police officers. And the employer hemorrhaging money? That’s us, the taxpayers.
Recent data have shown that between 2011 and 2019, in 170 cases where the Fraternal Order of Police fought to dismiss or reduce police officer discipline, the city paid 26 officers at least $1.2 million in back pay and other payments. In addition, the city has paid nearly $4 million to settle federal lawsuits involving 15 of these officers. Altogether, The Inquirer reported that Philadelphia taxpayers have doled out at least $5 million over the past decade to officers just through the arbitration process alone.
Even if you’re among the small percentage of police officers who gets fired from the department, there’s a good chance you can get your job back within a year or two. This might even happen more than once. Complete article
For the average person in Philly, having a job means being an at-will employee who can lose employment at any time, for any reason. If you make a careless mistake that costs your employer a lot of money, you can assume you’ll be fired. Make a mistake that causes injury or harm to others and you may receive jail time or pay restitution out-of-pocket over a period of time.
But in one line of work in Philly, not only can you make expensive mistakes and keep your job — you may even get back pay for the time your employer spent investigating it. If you’re among the fortunate 330 or so employees in one city department who make at least $100K annually, that back pay adds up.
What employees have this kind of extreme job security? Philadelphia police officers. And the employer hemorrhaging money? That’s us, the taxpayers.
Recent data have shown that between 2011 and 2019, in 170 cases where the Fraternal Order of Police fought to dismiss or reduce police officer discipline, the city paid 26 officers at least $1.2 million in back pay and other payments. In addition, the city has paid nearly $4 million to settle federal lawsuits involving 15 of these officers. Altogether, The Inquirer reported that Philadelphia taxpayers have doled out at least $5 million over the past decade to officers just through the arbitration process alone.
Even if you’re among the small percentage of police officers who gets fired from the department, there’s a good chance you can get your job back within a year or two. This might even happen more than once. Complete article
Since 2003, Minneapolis has paid out $45 million in settlements over police misconduct 06/12/2020 Since 2003, Minneapolis has paid out $45 million in court settlements over use-of-force complaints about its police department. Cities like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago have seen a similar culture of abuse, and taxpayers are footing the bill. Jeff Pegues speaks to one man who got a six-figure settlement after six officers attacked him.
Baltimore set to pay out millions in police misconduct complaints 08/08/2020
Report details taxpayer payouts in Baltimore police misconduct cases 01/31/2020
Millions in lawsuit settlements are another hidden cost of police misconduct: Experts 06/14/2020 During fiscal year 2019, New York city paid out $175.9 million in civil judgments and claims for police-related lawsuits -- not including settlements made with the city's comptroller's office, said Nick Paolucci, a spokesman with the city's Law Department -- the agency that defends the city and its employees in lawsuits.
Los Angeles county budgeted $148.5 million where $91.5 million was paid to satisfy 16 judgments, including $16.3 million paid for nine lawsuits against the Sheriff's Department and 240 settlements, according to the annual litigation cost report. "This marks a 24% increase over the $73.7 million the county expended on judgments and settlements" from the previous fiscal year, the report read.
In 2018, more than $85 million of Chicago taxpayer funds were used to settle police misconduct lawsuits -- the highest amount since 2011 -- and an additional $28 million to outside lawyers to defend these cases, according to data analyzed by the Chicago Reporter. For the prior year, over $32 million were paid to settle police-related lawsuits and $23 million in lawyer fees.
Police Settlements A CURATED COLLECTION OF LINKS
Police misconduct in Philadelphia, by the numbers 10/20/2014 Since 2009, Philly PD has settled 29 shooting lawsuits, for a total of $13,139,500
Countries that ban corporal punishment have lower rates of teen fighting, study finds 10/22/2018
When Police View Citizens as Enemies 05/31/2020
NYPD Officer Still Has A Job Even Though He Was Caught Planting Weed On Two Innocent Men In Separate Incidents 03/20/2020
We found 85,000 cops who’ve been investigated for misconduct. Now you can read their records. 06/11/2020
Chicago Citizens Police Data Project
Fired for a felony, again for perjury. Meet the new police chief. 10/14/2019
St. Louis police secret settlements total $4.7 million 06/06/2016
Detroit Police misconduct lawsuits cost city tens of millions of dollars 07/29/2019
Police misconduct claims cost Detroit taxpayers $19.1 million since 2015 06/14/2018
Miami to Pay Millions for Police Abuse That Left Victim in Coma 07/01/1993
Phoenix Police Settlement Claims Cost $26 Million Over 10 Years 10/22/2019
New Orleans to Pay $13.3 Million to Settle Katrina Police-Brutality Cases 12/20/2016
Houston may pay $1.2M to settle lawsuit from family of man killed by police officer 01/06/2020
Philadelphia spends millions every year to settle claims of police misconduct 07/16/2015
Dallas Has Spent Nearly $10M On Police Misconduct Lawsuits Since 2015 12/09/2019
Boston paid $36m to settle police lawsuits 05/15/2015
6 Police Misconduct Settlements Worth Millions 04/30/2013
Records: Louisiana paid $1.3 million to settle sexual harassment claims over past decade; see list of accused, payouts 01/05/2018
Fort Worth paid more than $2.2 million in lawsuits against its police in 10 years 10/31/2019
Milwaukee Council OKs $3.4 Million Settlement Of Police Stop-And-Frisk Lawsuit 07/11/2018
VA Police Brutality: Victim Gets Settlement In Excessive Force Lawsuit 07/10/2019
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