Police Brutality Settlement Costs THROUGH THE ROOF

POLICE MISCONDUCT AROUND THE COUNTRY IS COSTING CITIES HUGE
SUMS OF MONEY EVERY YEAR, AND THE SETTLEMENTS ARE ONLY GETTING
BIGGER AND MORE NUMEROUS AS THE YEARS PASS.
THE L.A. TIMES HAD A
BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE SETTLEMENTS JUST HERE IN L.A. --
A GIGANTIC LEAP, BECAUSE OF ILLEGAL ACTS TAKEN BY POLICE.
$51 MILLION IS A LOT OF MONEY, YOU MIGHT THINK HOW CAN THE
POLICE AFFORD TO PAY THAT?
IT'S BECAUSE THEY AREN'T, IF YOU LIVE
IN L.A. AND YOU PAY TAXES, YOU ARE PAYING FOR THAT.
HOW DO YOU
GET TO $51 MILLION?
WELL --
SOME OF THESE THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN IN THE CITY OF
THIS MINI POLICE, THIS MANY PEOPLE, HOSTAGES DO OCCASIONALLY
GET SHOT, THESE ARE TENSE SITUATIONS.
BUT I BELIEVE YOU
REPORTED ON THAT SITUATION, THEY APPARENTLY WENT IN GUNS BLAZING,
THEY SHOT UP A CAR WITH A COUPLE WOMEN THINKING IT WAS A SUSPECT
AT SOME POINT -- IT'S THIS SORT OF CRAZY BEHAVIOR, SHOOTING
BEFORE THINKING, AND HAVING VERY LITTLE ACCOUNTABILITY, THAT ENDS
UP COSTING THE CITY $51 MILLION IN ADDITION TO ALL THE LIVES
LOST.
I THINK OFTEN TIMES WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE ISSUE OF BETTER
POLICE TRAINING AND POLICE BRUTALITY, WHAT HAPPENS AS WE
LOOK AT ONE SPECIFIC CASE OF A PERSON WHO WAS SHOT AND KILLED,
AND UNARMED INDIVIDUAL, WHETHER IT IS WALTER SCOTT OR TAMIR
RICE, WE WILL LOOK AT THAT CASE AND IMMEDIATELY JUDGE THE
INDIVIDUAL WHO WAS SHOT AND KILLED.
SO THE CONVERSATION
ISN'T REALLY ABOUT A BROADER CONTEXT AND WHAT WE ARE SEEING
AMONG POLICE THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.
AND THE REALITY IS,
REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU CARE ABOUT, LET'S SAY YOU DON'T CARE
ABOUT THESE VICTIMS AND YOU THINK THEY ARE ALSO CALLED THUGS
AND CRIMINALS AND ALL DESERVE TO BE SHOT AND KILLED EVEN IF THEY
ARE UNARMED -- WE WILL TAKE THAT PART OUT OF IT AND FOCUS ON HOW
THIS TYPE OF BEHAVIOR PERSONALLY AFFECT YOU.
THIS IS YOUR
TAXPAYER MONEY.
WHEN THESE CASES NEED TO BE ADJUDICATED, WHEN THE
SETTLEMENTS NEED TO BE PAID OUT, WHEN THESE JUDGMENTS ARE READ
AND THESE POLICE DEPARTMENTS HAVE TO PAY WHATEVER THE JUDGE
DECIDES IS THE PROPER AMOUNT THAT THE VICTIMS DESERVE, THAT
IS YOUR MONEY.
IT IS NOT THE COPS.
I'M NOT GOING TO SIT HERE
AND SAY ALL THESE COPS ARE TERRIBLE, NO, THAT'S NOT WHAT
I'M TRYING TO SAY.
WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY IS, BAD POLICE
BEHAVIOR AND A LACK OF EFFECTIVE TRAINING AFFECTS EVERY ONE OF US
REGARDLESS OF OUR RACE, OUR SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, AND THAT'S
WHY IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE HONE IN ON THIS ISSUE AND FIND REAL
SOLUTIONS.
IF WE SEE BAD BEHAVIOR AND WE KNOW THAT BAD
BEHAVIOR IS ACCURATE, IT'S REPORTED ACCURATELY AND WE HAVE
EVIDENCE, THERE NEEDS TO BE PROPER CONSEQUENCES, AND WE NEED
TO TRAIN THEM BETTER.
THERE NEEDS TO BE A LITTLE MORE
HESITATION BEFORE SHOTS ARE FIRED, AND RIGHT NOW IT SEEMS
LIKE THERE IS NO HESITATION AT ALL.
A COP RAPED SOMEONE, AND
THE COUNTY HAD TO PAY $6 MILLION.
THAT OUR MONEY.
AND THAT IS JUST ONE OF THE SEXUAL ASSAULTS THAT WERE
SETTLED IN L.A. AS YOU POINT OUT, THIS AFFECTS EVERYONE, AND
EVERY CITY BASICALLY.
IT IS NOT JUST AN L.A. A PROBLEM.
I CAST A
WIDER NET AND I FOUND EVIDENCE ACROSS THE COUNTRY THAT THIS IS
A GROWING PROBLEM --
THAT IS
NOT INCLUDING 2015 AND 2016, AND I THINK YOU CAN
THINK OF SOME LEGAL TROUBLES WITH THE POLICE IN CHICAGO IN
THOSE YEARS.
THIS IS A PROBLEM THAT GOES FROM BIG CITIES TO
SMALL, THE NUMBERS FOR BALTIMORE WERE INCREDIBLY HIGH -- THIS IS
AFFECTING YOU.
THERE ARE WAYS WE CAN DEAL WITH THIS, AND IF WE
REFORM THE WAY POLICE ARE TRAINED WE DON'T JUST GET MORE
JUSTICE ON A DAILY BASIS OR STOP PEOPLE FROM BEING KILLED
UNNECESSARILY, WE COULD ALSO SAVE A LOT OF MONEY THAT COULD
BE INVESTED INTO COMMUNITIES AND CAN PRODUCE A LOT OF GOOD
OVER TIME.
THE WHOLE POINT OF HAVING POLICE IS TO GO AFTER THE BAD
GUYS AND PROTECT THE GOOD GUYS, NOT TO HAVE THE COPS ACT AS THE
BAD GUYS AND HAVE US FOOT THE BILL AS A RESULT.
THESE NUMBERS ARE RIDICULOUS, BUT THERE IS SOMETHING WE CAN DO
ABOUT IT.
UNFORTUNATELY WE ARE UNLIKELY TO GET ANY HELP AT THE
FEDERAL LEVEL IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS, WE KNOW WHAT JEFF
SESSIONS IS AND WHAT HE REPRESENTS, BUT IT IS STILL
POSSIBLE TO CHANGE THINGS AT A LOCAL LEVEL, CERTAINLY AT A
STATE LEVEL, AND YOU CAN WARD OFF SOME OF THESE UNNECESSARY
CRIMES AND SETTLEMENTS BY DOING THAT.

Police Brutality Settlement Costs THROUGH THE ROOF

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