Why do taxpayers constantly have to pay up for illegal acts committed by police? Shouldn't it be the police themselves, who commit these illegal acts who are forced to pay the settlements?

If you don't know your job, if you don't know what you're legally allowed to do or not, you probably shouldn't have such a job. And you personally should face lawsuits. I don't know about that cop, but every nurse I know carries multiple millions of dollars of liability insurance in case they screw up at their job and hurt someone or violate their rights. If police don't have the same thing, they bloody well should, and they should get their rates jacked up every time they violate someone's rights, to the point where if they keep at it, they simply can't afford to work as police any more.

As long as the police officer was acting in their official capacity, the supervising government is responsible for their actions.

The "fix" for these illegal acts is for the government to prosecute the police officer. Civil suits are not how you stop illegal acts.

You don't stop criminal acts by giving 'immunity' to those committing the crimes. You stop criminal acts by making the perpetrators personally responsible for their actions.

The government is supposed to be prosecuting criminal acts, whether or not they were performed by police.

It should not be up to private citizens to enforce criminal law. If it were, then laws are only enforced when the victim has enough money to file a lawsuit.

Federal law allows the "1983 action" -- a private citizen's suit for money damages against governmental entities and individual employees who've engaged in violations of civil rights while acting under cover of law. A prevailing plaintiff can also recover attorney's fees, which makes it somewhat easier to find a lawyer, although a private attorney still has to consider the prospects of success and whether any award will be significant.

Some individual police officers have been hit with money judgments under section 1983 against them personally. I've heard an allegation that some police officers and other potential 1983 defendants make a practice of keeping all significant assets, such as a house, in their spouse's name, so that in case of such a judgment they can simply declare bankruptcy and not lose much.

You fit the description of the robber: "I don't know you." You led him on a high speed chase.

I assume you mean the officer should have shot the citizen who was walking innocently down the street, carrying a purchase he had made at a store in the town in which he lived.
Maybe you are right. A few more citizens shot may make those left a bit more compliant when the police do their work. Maybe theycan even get confessions out of people like this citizen.

Yep, that'll do it.

And that high speed chase? Maybe a mile an hour?

Relax, he was being sarcastic. His word's meanings were in jest. K?

sometimes I get wound too tight I think.
Thanks much for pointing this out. I shall reprimand myself.

who thinks that if you start out by telling a cop what his Constitutional obligations are it will end well?

Couldn't disagree with you more TreasonousBastard. If you don't assert your constitutional rights, you won't have them.

next time a cop wants to talk to you for any reason, let me know how it goes.

If you get away with it, it usually means the cop just can't be bothered, not that you taught him a lesson.

way home.

TreasonousBastard is really SimperingSubmissive.

Just sayin'.

this "show me your papers" crap has to stop. Guilty until proven innocent is just wrong. More people need to stand up and assert their rights. But if you do it, you have to do it correctly like the man in the video.

how many people out there can afford a minimum $100 per hour lawyer?

I was walking down the sidewalk at about 1 am, when a squad car pulls up and the officer began questioning me. After a minute, we were joined by a 2nd squad car.

I asserted my rights in much the same way that man did "My name is ****, I live on *** street. I don't have ID, because I leave my wallet at home when I go out this late. Am I under arrest?" I just kept repeating variations of that sentence.

The cop tried everything he could think of to convince me to stay and submit to questioning. He was pissed. But after about 20 minutes I finally got him to admit that I was not under arrest, I told him "Fine, I'm leaving now. Please don't shoot me when I leave."

Obviously, I didn't get shot, but it was hard to just turn and walk. The cops just stood there for a few (it was a long straight street and I kept looking over my shoulder to be sure I wasn't about to get tackled), then got in their cars and went off to find someone else to fuck with.

Know your rights, and assert them respectfully.

We shouldn't have to live in a country where we fear that speaking out for our constitutional rights to the police "won't end well."

If you're not committing a crime and there is no reasonable suspicion of such, the police have no right to your ID. When the cop asked for his ID and he refused to provide it, that should have been the end of the conversation.

It is slowly becoming a police state...or maybe not so slow.

unless you live in a very small town where you know all the cops and they know you, it IS a police state, it's just been happening incrementally and mostly to those who don't appear to be pearly white for a very long time. Now it has escalated to include everybody who doesn't immediately prostrate themselves before the almighty cops.

If I'm not free to go, I will only answer questions with a lawyer present to represent me. You can't argue with an idiot. You can bring up the rights that an officer must repeat every day.

A couple of years ago I was pulled over for a light out over my plate. He asked if I had anything illegal in my van. I said no. He said in that case you won't mind if I look. I said I do mind and there is nothing illegal in the van. He then said if that is so why won't you let me look.

That is what I was waiting for. I asked if he was paid by the hour. I said I'm retired and have all day and would be more than happy to wait for him to wake up a judge to present any evidence he has to issue a warrant. Then I went into a very long story about what happened to me 25 years ago when a cop asked the same thing. I thought I didn't have anything to hide so why not.
The cop then tore apart my car. Dumped my stuff on the ground and broke some antique dishes. I was pissed and hire a lawyer who told me there was not much I could do other than register a complaint. Then He told me "never let a cop search your car without a warrant or evidence of a crime.
I went on for a good half hour with my story. He turned and said "have a nice day sir". I never got mad, raised my voice or even got rude. I did it all with a smile, as I was having fun. I don't think my blood pressure went up and there was no argument.

Suspicious behavior;

walking
walking with groceries
the cop doesn't know you

Breathing is a suspicious behavior to these gangs in blue.

The 'Supreme Court' ruled the police are not required to know the laws they enforce.

What an embarrassment the U.S. has become.

The police unions should have to cover all costs when the police are sued.

the cops' and their unions' pockets not the taxpayers'.

Maybe I didn't state it clearly enough.

If it hit them in their wallets, maybe they would self correct.

I was agreeing with you... I guess I'm just a little slow this morning.

Have a great day.

it's suddenly winter again here after several weeks of spring-like weather, guess I'll have to pull the skis back out of the shed. Not too thrilled about that.

I had to watch this video because I was raised in NE and wanted to see how a cop got owned. I guess because he was sued and lost but the dialogue was typical from a New Englander. Sounded like the cop was a transplant from Montana, should have stayed there but the red necks in this part of the world don't heed commands from non-whites so maybe that's why he went someplace else. Maybe he'll transfer to some other place to harass people in some other community or city.

I have been harassed like that in NH many years ago, for walking down a city street... it's all BS and is being done to wear us down. All these tactics of beatings for just looking at something or taking a picture or harassing us while using private transportation and monitoring all our calls and e-mails... it's a pogrom to try to contain us in fear and making inter-communication and private travel less of a choice. Divide and conquer.

I hope warm weather comes your way soon.

Raise an eyebrow. I was beaten and jailed when I was 19 by a transplant cop from L.A. in Ohio. I was walking to the store at 11 pm to buy cigs. Cop pulls up and jumps out of his car , gun drawn and ordered me to freeze. He arrested me, beat me up in the back of his car and interrogated me, locked me up and I bailed out on 100 bucks. Charged then with ' disturbing the peace', I went to court, a 19 year old kid without a clue. The 80 year old woman who went before the judge ahead of me kind of got the book thrown at her for shoplifting something. So I just plead no contest and lost my 100 bucks.
That is how the system works, the lesson, totally worth the hundred bucks.

Traffic court is interesting. Lots of tired poor people having to pay expensive parking tickets.

Plead not guilty.

The last time I went to court, I was one of two people who plead not guilty. Everyone else basically paid the fine PLUS "supervision fees" which were more than the fine. I think the fine was a little over $120 and the supervision fees were close to $200. I don't recall the exact numbers but it was a joke. I figured my spotless record could take a hit once in a while on the off chance I would lose my case so I wasn't going to pay double to keep it off my record.

Most of the people had to ask for extra time and another court visit to make payments disgusting form of law enforcement tax collection.

Anyway, I had a stack of photos showing the "no left turn" sign 100% obscured by a "historic neighborhood " banner along with photos showing the lighted signs with burnt out bulbs.

The city attorney couldn't be bothered to look at the photos for more than two seconds. They dropped the case. I coulda had pictures of my dog's ass and recieved the same result.

There was no justice. No law enforcement. It was a tax collection line of people lined up to pay.

Into any of these news articles concerning police brutality , in Ferguson, Cleveland, Fla, the common thread is that there is usually a transplant cop involved. A cop from somewhere else. Usually because that somewhere else fired that cops ass or he had to resign for some secret reason.
When a cop loses his job , he should not be hired somewhere else. Hes a bad cop.
I was assaulted by a bad cop. But that was a lesson I payed for and learned from.
It might have saved my smart ass from any future problems because after that , I knew how to behave and speak to a police man.

It's an open carry state and a black police officer stops a white shit-kicker carrying his rifle/wearing his holster and handgun for the same reasons...

Gotta say it's getting more difficult to be proud of this country.....

It's just that we can now record their abuses. That's the difference. It's not that cops have suddenly become bad.

I have always respected and sympathized with our local police, because they put their lives on the line, and they have to work with the lowest criminal elements as well as regular citizens. They need the training to "serve and protect" efficiently and safely.

The thugs need to be thinned out, and the inefficient need to be properly trained or dismissed. Cameras are exposing their inefficient and abusive individuals. They have been there since the beginning of time. Maybe it will improve, now that they are on tape. I certainly hope so.

There is no excuse for this intrusion of privacy in the video.

for peace officers who cost the taxpayers money?

Make it an automatic job loss if they lose a case & city has to pay for their eff-ups.

That might have an effect even on behavior that's pretty well entrenched.

Other way around, different outcome. Just sayin'

and if the situation was reversed, racially, there probably wouldn't have been any type of settlement even if the probably dead POC was the same as this individual carrying his groceries, innocent of an wrongdoing. The cop probably would have used the excuse of some robbery at some convenience or grocery store. THAT'S THE TRUTH of america.

regardless the race of the officer. I think we're agreeing.

given the last few years and especially the last 7 months of street executions of unarmed POC. This individual was just trying to exercise his standing this society. Given that he is of the privileged class, I feel that is the only reason he is not dead "for reaching for his waistband" or at least beaten badly for not respecting the 'authority' of this cop. I also feel that this is the reason for the financial settlement. And the cop is not black and someone mentioned that in this thread.

So what are your rights; and what is the proper way to respond to this kind of a situation

interesting debate, but might be even more so had we more info.

thx.

dangerous occupations, you must buy Errors and Omissions insurance. It is not cheap, but in case you forget to dot an "i" or cross a "t" or write something stupid and someone doesn't like it, you contact your E&O company and they proceed. Then your rates go up, if there is a settlement, like most insurance companies. Too many and you're uninsurable.

I think cops should have to do the same...get Community Misunderstanding (abusing a citizen) insurance. The Union could sponsor that. That way, if some cop bangs you around, the insurance company gets notified. If it's a no-no and especially if there is a video of it, rates go up. With some number of "points" against you, you can no longer get CM insurance, you can't be a cop so you'd best be going to night school to have another profession in the wings.

That's a reasonable solution to accountability and not breaking the public bank...both for the illegal act and the cost to the municipality.

I think if a cop loses a lawsuit it shoild be instant termination followed by a criminal trial, conviction, and jail.