General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: How do we change the culture in local police departments? [View all]99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts).. is that by definition, "civil" suits -- as opposed to criminal -- only can impose a "$ettlement for damage$" to the plaintiffs in dollars (not jail time for the perp) that is then paid out of the local gov't coffers, i.e. at the expense of local tax-payers who would rather see their taxes pay for decent roads, public services, etc. not this bullshit.
This is already widely done, but if effectively let's killer-cops walk free, with the added benefit of getting an extended paid vacation (called "Administrative leave" while the investigation is underway.
I have long said that these settlements need to start coming from the police dept budget directly, or from the police retirement funds. Then at least there is some modicum of "penalty" imposed on cops (not on the local jurisdiction.
I also think killer-cops are murderers, plain and simple, and need to go to jail.. when this starts happening, then things are much more likely to change, because there is real accountability, i.e. the perp gets punish, not the local gov't and local taxpayers.
I might have this wrong, or misunderstand what you are proposing. Do civil rights prosecutions result in jail time for those found guilty? This I'm not sure of, and would like to know.