Minneapolis reaches historic $27 million settlement with George Floyd's family

[WhiskeyGrinder]

https://minnesotareformer.com/2021/03/12/minneapolis-reaches-historic-27-million-settlement-with-george-floyds-family/

The city of Minneapolis has reached a $27 million settlement agreement with the family of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed by Minneapolis police last May. His death sparked widespread demonstrations and riots across the city and catalyzed a movement to defund police across the country.

The City Council unanimously approved the agreement on Friday, the largest settlement in the city’s history. As part of the agreement, $500,000 will be used “for the benefit of the community around 38th Street and Chicago Avenue,” where Floyd died.

“This is a deeply traumatic event that unfortunately is a part of too many Black and brown families’ realities,” said Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins, who represents the area where Floyd was killed. “No amount of money that can replace a brother, a son, a nephew, a father, a loved one. What we can do is continue to work toward justice.”

The Floyd family, represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, filed a civil lawsuit against the city and the four officers in July.

[Aristus]

1. Good. The only way to get a municipality to stop training their cops to murder citizens

is to charge them so much money, they don't want to go on living...

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. It's not clear to me what you're saying here with "charge them so much money they

don't want to go on living."

[Aristus]

3. $27 million dollars is a lot of money. I'm sure Minneapolis can think of a lot of other ways

they would have liked to spend that money. But because they allowed killer cops on their force, it's going to cost them.

So the town magistrates have two choices:

Continue to allow killer cops to murder citizens and then get sued for massive damages and punitive costs, or

Recruit and train cops who aren't going to murder citizens.


One of them is much less costly in the long run.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

5. It's sad that there seem to be

so many people who will change their behavior only if it costs them financially, but not because they have any respect for human life. So sick.

[frazzled]

6. Not entirely good

Of course the family needs considerable restitution, and I don’t think this is too much.

But too often these payments are made, and nothing happens to change the situation. This has been going on in my city for many years, and we still have extensive police misconduct (which we, the taxpayers, keep paying for).

Over the past decade, Chicago has paid more than a half billion dollars for police misconduct, according to an analysis of city law department data.

... Chicago City Council Finance Committee Chairman Scott Waguespack says the city is working to break that expensive pattern and concentrating on implementing police reforms mandated by a consent decree put in place after a white Chicago police officer, Jason Van Dyke, fatally shot LaQuan McDonald, a 17-year-old African American.

"So that we're not just saying 'okay, here's another settlement. Good job negotiating' and move on. But really look at the deep seated issues within the department to start rooting out those problems," Waguespack says.

https://www.npr.org/2020/09/19/914170214/police-settlements-how-the-cost-of-misconduct-impacts-cities-and-taxpayers

So certainly we need to compensate victims. But that should not be the end of the story. We should hope for the day to come soon when these tragic wrongful deaths end, and there are no more settlements needed.

[WarGamer]

4. Excellent... not sure it's enough.

Maybe 27 million to the family and another 100 million to the property owners who lost property due to the riots.

Bottom line... the PD was responsible for EVERYTHING that went upside down that week.