Broken-teeth brutality suit costs Oakland $22K

Source: SF Chronicle

The city of Oakland has agreed to pay $22,000 to a man who said several police officers broke his teeth while arresting him after a traffic stop.

Desmond Dickerson of Hayward was stopped by Officer Jason Mitchell for running a stop sign and playing music too loud at 60th and Avenal avenues on Jan. 30, 2008, city officials said.

Dickerson, then 24, was "yanked out of the car" by at least one officer who handcuffed him and slammed his head into the hood of his car and the ground, according to the suit Dickerson filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco last year.

The impact broke two teeth and cut his lip in two places, Dickerson said.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/04/BAQO1LQQKM.DTL

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Not good PR in the wake of the police conduct during Occupy Oakland.

Nothing new here. I've met some good ones, but they are few and far between. Most are dicks.

but it should.

Union would never go for it, though.

That amount will probably cover the costs of dental care but there should be

a heavy financial penalty for police brutality like this.

Our police officers are out of hand -- and it seems obvious to me its the pressures

they're feeling from a nervous elite.

I hope the officer lost his job over his brutality.

That will barely cover fixing his teeth, and it certainly isn't enough to be a punitive measure.

Law and order types are always insisting our legal system is for punishment, not rehab, so awards against those law and order types should reflect that. The first time a department hears "We can't afford cruisers. Hope you guys like riding bikes because that's what you'll have." will be the last time that department does something like this.

Edited to add: That or make the cops that get sued pay it personally.

the entire article? Just sayin there could be more to it.

Otherwise you would have posted some of what was in the story if there were more to it.

The police are claiming he tried to head butt them. Considering the recent behavior of the cops, I'm calling bullshit.

I am no fan of our present day law enforcement, particularly its militarization over the past 20 years.. However, I refuse to jump to conclusions based on preconceived notions and prejudice's. Sorry I'm just not that way.

give the police the right to be violent with him.