Civil suits over cop shootings result in 'uneven justice,' newspaper investigation finds
Fifty-nine police officers have been charged for fatal shootings while on duty in the last decade, spurring 46 civil suits by families of those shot.
The system, however, “dispenses uneven justice” for the civil litigants, the Washington Post reports. Out of the 46 families who sued, only 32 received monetary awards. Settlements ranged from $7,500 to $8.5 million.
Eleven officers were criminally convicted, and families won civil settlements in all but one case, the Post found. But when the officers were acquitted or had criminal charges dismissed, families were just as likely to win civil settlements.
“When police kill someone,” the Post says, “the odds that their family will receive compensation can seem as random as the spin of a roulette wheel.”
The $8.5 million award against a Phoenix police officer turned out to be a hollow victory for the parents of Danny Rodriguez, who was fatally shot after his mother called police because Rodriguez was impaired by drugs and was threatening her. The officer who responded pepper sprayed Rodriguez and used a stun gun on him, then shot Rodriguez twice in the chest when he picked up his bicycle.
The officer, Richard Chrisman, is serving a seven-year sentence for manslaughter. But he doesn’t have the assets to pay the judgment, the Post says. And the city of Phoenix was protected, a judge ruled, because of an Arizona law protecting local governments from liability unless they trained an officer incorrectly or knew the officer had a tendency to use excessive force. The case is on appeal.
“We got nothing,” Rodriguez’s mother told the Post. “All I have is my hate—I hate myself for calling the police. I never hated anybody like I hate myself.”
