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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNYC Has Paid Almost Half a Billion Dollars in NYPD-Related Settlements Over the Past 5 Years
In response to a Freedom of Information Law request filed by MuckRock, New York City released a document listing every civil-rights lawsuit brought against the NYPD since 2009, as well as how much money it cost to settle each one. As you can imagine, there's a lot of information to sift through (take a look for yourself here), but one piece of information really sticks out: Over the past five years, the city has spent a total of $428 million on police-related settlements.
As Gothamist pointed out, these settlements aren't all the result of basic misconduct by cops. For example, the largest payout, $11.5 million, went to Google engineer Sasha Blair-Goldensohn, who was nearly killed in 2009 when a tree branch fell on him in Central Park. Another big one $2.75 million went to the family of Ronald Spear, who died after being beaten by Rikers Island guards, who work for the Department of Correction, not the NYPD. Still, there are more than 10,000 cases (average settlement: $33,875) listed on the document provided to MuckRock, and it seems likely that most are about what you'd expect.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/10/428-million-in-nypd-related-settlements-paid.html
TerrapinFlyer
(277 posts)they send US the bill!
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)Welcome to DU!
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)THAT would actually really change things, and fast.
notrightatall
(410 posts)Bad cop, no doughnut.
FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)I like it.
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)not sure an officer's paycheck could really "settle" these multi-million dollar lawsuits
notrightatall
(410 posts)ohnoyoudidnt
(1,858 posts)And just like doctors and nurses can lose their license in some circumstances, maybe cops should lose the right to ever wear a badge again after some instances of misconduct.
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Unless things have changed recently, NOLA has not paid any of the legal judgments against it in years.