While many incidents of police misconduct escape justice, victims can sue and sometimes prevail. In fact settlements, judgements, and legal fees cost American cities billions every year. And guess who gets stuck paying? Before answering that question, consider the amount of money we’re talking about.
In a 2013 case similar to George Floyd’s, Minneapolis police killed David Smith. Unable to breathe with a knee pressed in his back, Smith lost consciousness and died a week later. The city settled for $3 million. In 2017, Minneapolis again settled for the same amount in the case of Philando Castile, who was killed when an officer inexplicably shot the motorist during a traffic stop.
In all, bad policing cost the city more than $24 million from 2003 to 2019—and that was before the Justine Ruszczyk settlement, which cost Minneapolis an additional $20 million, the single biggest payout in city history. After calling the police to report a possible sexual assault in the alley behind her home in 2017, Ruszczyk was shot while approaching the responding officer’s car.
“This is what I call one of the hidden costs of police misconduct,” said Marc Morial, head of National Urban League and former mayor of New Orleans: “that cities pay out millions and millions of dollars in civil judgments. The public knows nothing about it. Many times it’s hidden behind confidentiality agreements, attorney-client privilege. It’s not discussed.”
The numbers can be shockingly large. “The 10 cities with the largest police departments paid out $248.7 million last year in settlements and court judgments in police-misconduct cases, up 48% from $168.3 million in 2010,” reported the Wall Street Journal in 2015. “Those cities collectively paid out $1.02 billion over those five years in such cases, which include alleged beatings, shootings and wrongful imprisonment. When claims related to car collisions, property damage and other police incidents are included, the total rose to more than $1.4 billion.”
In New York City alone between 2015 and 2020, payouts amounted to nearly $1.2 billion. Yes, billion with a B. The city is required to report twice a year on all civil actions for misconduct. I downloaded the most recent report here.
Of course, settlements and judgements are only part of the cost. We must add legal fees. In Chicago from 2014 to 2019 attorneys collectively billed the city $213 million for counsel and representation in civil rights cases, according to a 2019 investigation by the Chicago Tribune. In 2018 the city spent over $30 million. “[T]hat’s more than twice what it spent on the agency that investigates police misconduct,” said reporter Dan Hinkel.
How do cities foot such monstrous bills? Insurance helps. But the costs of such payouts have been so great in some cases insurance companies have actually withdrawn coverage, forcing the cities to disband their police departments.
Ultimately, taxpayers backstop police abuse since the funds for lawyers, settlements, and all the rest come from city treasuries. As a result, property taxes rise to pay for police misconduct and the added costs of training to avoid it. In a 2018 report, ACRE (the Action Center on Race and the Economy) noted tax hikes in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Inkster, Michigan; South Tucson, Arizona; and Cleveland, Ohio—“all . . . to cover the costs of police related settlements and judgments, or other costs associated with the consequences of violent policing.”
Even more scandalous, cities often float bonds to cover their abuse bills, saddling taxpayers with the bill plus interest. “Cities are effectively using their residents to mortgage police violence,” said CityLab writer Brentin Mock.
ACRE calls these “police brutality bonds.” In Chicago, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Lake County, Indiana, alone ACRE estimates “a total of $1.87 billion in costs related to these police brutality bonds, including more than $1 billion in profit for the investors who buy the bonds.” So, police are free to harass and harm, taxpayers foot the bill, and Wall Street investors reap the benefit. I’m a capitalist, but this makes me wince.
Sometimes cities can weasel out of payment, like Cleveland recently did, avoiding payment on a $13 million judgement with an inventive loophole. That saves taxpayers money but leaves the victim with nothing. If cities want to avoid the crazy-high cost of police misconduct, the only honorable way is reforming the system.