Police Misconduct Lawsuits

BrooklynDodger started this post as a gloss on Detroit's depopulation, previously reported. A benefit of the "rebellion" of 1967 is thought to be the change of Detroit's Police Department from a white occupying army in a majority black city. The Dodger hasn't had the time to figure the racial composition of the recent DPD, although leadership - the ones on TV - are african american.

Clearly the police misconduct problem hasn't been solved. However, misconduct suits may not be the best barometer. For example, a majority white Wayne County jury might be more likely to find against an african american officer than a white officer.

That said, the Dodger couldn't help playing with some numbers. The Dodger notes that in 2004, 11.9 of 22.1 million were paid out for 3 fatal scout car crashes. We lack data on the remaining minority of the payout, how much was vehicle related? Victims of these crashes are likely "innocent" victims rather than those claiming a closed head injury from being bashed by a flashlight during an arrest. Stratifying costs by type of case would help direct prevention.

Below it notes there were 332 "repeaters" among cases in 2004. There are about 3600 Detroit Police employees, 2700 represented by the union. How many cases were there?

Finally, why does Sheila Cockrel invoke the deity: "Why in God's name..." in contrast to Maryann Mahaffey's question "Why on Earth..."


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Cop suits cost $44.7 million
Misdeeds added up in 2002-04

July 5, 2005
BY JOE SWICKARD
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Detroit has paid out almost $45 million over the past three years in police misconduct lawsuits, with more than half that amount going to pay cases involving officers with histories of past lawsuits, according to a City Council analysis.

...Detroit police are currently under a federal consent degree mandating sweeping and costly changes in the way the department operates. The agreement came in 2003 after a U.S. Justice Department investigation that was spurred, in part, by Free Press reports detailing the high rate of civilians fatally shot by officers and constitutionally questionable practices of dragnet arrests and holding relatives to force suspects to surrender.

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Tracking repeaters
Suits involving repeaters -- officers who have been named in more than one case -- account for more than $111 million, or about 60% of the settlement payouts since 1987.
...
Cockrel and Mahaffey said repeaters' costs underscore the long-standing need for a computerized tracking system to monitor officers' performance and flag potentially dangerous behavior.

"Why in God's name don't we have an early warning system -- we have been asking for one for years," Cockrel said.
Mahaffey was equally put out: "Why on Earth -- I just don't understand it -- do you allow bad ones to remain? Good supervision means keeping track. I'm tired of hearing you can't fire under civil service. You can if you've kept track."

...
In 2004, there were 332 repeaters in cases that came before the council. ...However, it does point out there were three multimillion dollar settlements in 2004, the costliest year. The settlements -- $5.5 million, $4.5 million and $2.9 million -- all involved fatal crashes with police scout cars. In all, cases cost more than $22.1 million that year.
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Contact JOE SWICKARD at 586-469-4913 or swickard@freepress.com