When police kill, shoot or otherwise harm any citizen, or conduct false arrests or false imprisonments, there are lawsuits as a result. Those who pay the settlements are sometimes insurance companies, but often the cities themselves. New information released this week shows that 2 of 19 officers in Austin, Texas who were charged for their actions during 2020 protests settled their legal cases, the Insurance Journal revealed in a report.
The high cost of insuring police departments has become a major profit for Wall Street, said a study conducted by the Nathan Cummings Foundation. The Austin Police Department is contributing to that.
"The release of the documents by the Travis County District Attorney’s office was the first time details including names of the officers charged were made public since prosecutors announced last week that a grand jury had decided the officers should face first-degree felonies," said the report.
All 19 of the officers cited were charged with an aggravated assault by a public servant and it covers injuries from 10 people. The same week that this data was released, the Austin City Council authorized $10 million in payments to two people hurt by police in protests.
"Two officers are charged in the shooting of Justin Howell, a then-20-year-old college student who police said was shot in the head unintentionally, leading to a skull fracture and brain damage. One of those officers is also accused of shooting Anthony Evans, whose injuries required extensive surgery in his jaw. If both settlements are accepted, Howell will receive $8 million from the city of Austin _ one of the largest settlements in cases connected to late May 2020 protests _ while Evans will receive $2 million," the Insurance Journal reported.
Over the course of the past several years, cities have been on the hook for million-dollar settlements, particularly for the murders of unarmed citizens. Michael Brown's family got a $1.5 million settlement from Ferguson, Missouri, and the city has passed that cost onto anyone shopping in the city. Chicago agreed to pay the family of LaQuan McDonald $5 million. The mother of Philando Castile reached a $3 million settlement with the city. His girlfriend, who captured the moment on video was paid $800, 000. An insurance company paid for one Alabama shooting lawsuit.
"Minneapolis set records with the $20 million settlement paid to Justine Ruszczyk Damond's family in 2019 and the $27 million settlement paid to George Floyd's next of kin in March, hailed as the largest pretrial settlement in a civil rights wrongful-death lawsuit in U.S. history," said the Star Tribune in 2021.
