Term Paper on "Police Brutality and Monetary Judgements"

Term Paper 7 pages (2030 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Police Brutality and Monetary Judgments

This paper explores the relationship between that of police brutality, monetary judgments and the possibility that a municipality; city, town or county will be financially burdened or ruined by a large lawsuit. Despite the fact that Commissioners of Bryan County v. Brown, et. al., a ruling by the United States Supreme Court prohibits that municipalities could not be held liable for the hiring of law enforcement officers with histories of violent behavior, government agencies are becoming burdened with the financial responsibility when the family goes to court. This case requires that the victim must prove that the officer showed signs of such behavior but was hired regardless. There are loop holes in the nation's judicial system. This paper will offer a definition of police brutality. This paper will provide a brief literature review on the subject of police brutality, monetary judgement and the agency's burden of responsibility, if this burden is causing financial problems. Research suggests that despite federal rulings and even the propensity of litigants to sue the officer civilly, that agencies are still burdened.

Statement of the Problem

The subject of police brutality and related monetary judgments and also implications were assessed in this research to correlate with actual interviews, surveys, legal cases and case studies found in the literature used as methodology.

As a result of this study, this research presented preliminary findings related to police brutality but also a seen trend in monetary judgments that could bankrupt town, city and county administrations and infrastructure in the United States. This leads one to looking at other possible solutions. Part of the problem is the "sue happy" society in which we live. What can be done to change the justice system to where there is fair and equal outcomes?

Purpose of the Study

The overall purpose of this paper and study is to investigate incident of police brutality and its relationship with monetary judgments. It was also important to examine specific incidents within the United States to see first if there was any relationship and then to see if to what extent this practice to leading to cities and municipalities ending up financially weaker or in bankruptcy court. This investigation will require an in-depth study of incident of police brutality and the relationship of such action to city and municipal liability. How often does such a thing happen in a city? What damages are involved? Were the repercussions of the act providing justice to the family or were damages completely inflated? This also requires an in depth look different incidents to get an idea of where the trend is going and does it reflect the amount of litigation for that particular region of the country. As the cost of living and doing business in America increases, so does city, county, state and federal expenses to run a government infrastructure. As this happens, liability increases. Unfortunately the only answer to combat such expenses are increased property taxes and consolidation of public services. Is it possible that this fact reflects people's need for justice, the need to sue?

Research Questions and Sub-Questions

Some research questions that come to mind upon reviewing the literature are listed as follows:

1) What is police brutality? How is it defined by the corrections industry?

2) Are there different degrees of brutality?

3) How often does police brutality occur?

4) What are the potential damages to the public agency?

5) Do damages equal justice?

6) How many city, town and county governments face bankruptcy or financial ruin because of such judgments against them?

7) Does this need to sue reflect problems in society and the economy? Or is it culturally based?

Definition of Police Brutality

Brutality has been defined as excessive force, name calling, sarcasm, ridicule and disrespect. Part of the problem is that the nation has yet to concretely define the action for law enforcement agencies. With one definition for all to remain accountable to, then courts would have an easier way of handling cases resulting of alleged actions. There are just too many vague definitions such as "any violation of due process" used by law enforcement today. Kania and Mackey's (1997) widely regarded definition is "excessive violence, to an extreme degree, which does not support legitimate police function." When a citizen charges police brutality, they may be referring to number of things including:

profane or abusive language commands to move or go home field stops and searches threats of implied violence prodding with a night stick or approaching with a pistol the actual use of physical force

Only the last one of these can be considered police brutality. This is often expressed as "more than excessive force." Research shows that police perjury and police brutality are closely related as officers who commit brutality will most likely lie on the stand to prevent the possibility of a lawsuit or departmental charges. Criminal justice experts are divided over whether racial differences exist with respect to police use of force (Weisburd, et. al, 2000. However cases of extreme brutality such as the Los Angeles Police Department Rampart Scandal and study of other such cases in the nation, suggests that white officers are more than likely to use excessive force against African-Americans than whites (Human Rights Watch, 1998).

Limitations of Study few limitations were encountered during the implementation of this study; the following are the preliminary main issues:

Resources

Resources were lacking to conduct a complete survey of different city, town and county government agencies. Resources were lacking to conduct a complete survey of these populations. Data collection was contingent on careful study of the different case studies and judgments found pertaining to the relationship between police brutality and municipal bankruptcy and financial problems.

2. Geography

Information and data gathering was conducted in the best way possible without actual physical surveying of different city, town and county agencies.

Part 2:

Brief Review of Related Literature

Research suggests that one of the reasons government agencies are burdened by lawsuits resulting from police misconduct like brutality is because the officers themselves are immune. Under 42 U.S. Code, section 1983, individuals may files lawsuits against the offending officer, the department and jurisdiction. This section acts to fulfill at least two basic purposes in the police abuse context. Such law is designed to compensate the victim usually through an award of compensatory damages and acts to make the officer and the department accountable for such actions. Part of the issue with this section is that it establishes immunity to the individual officer for liability unless it is clear their conduct violated statutory or constitutional norms. This immunity is used in court to allow the jury to focus on the nature of the officer's conduct and make ruling about the crime. The jury must first figure out if there was a crime and then figure out if his or her actions were justified. This creates a loop hole in which the jury can decide the action was unreasonable but understandable. This also does not protect the accountability the department shares in the action. This feeds the fire for the victim to seek other more costly avenues of compensation.

To complicate legal matters, as mentioned above, in 1997 the Commissioners of Bryan County v. Brown, et. al. ruled that government agencies could not be held liable in situations where the officer displayed violent behavior unknown to the agency. This ruling in the mind of the judge may have limited the ability for the individual to sue effectively but this has done two things to the agency as a result. It should be kept in mind that as important as progress and making law enforcement a better occupation is to the majority of agencies, it is also costly. This ruling by the Supreme Court asked law enforcement to change its hiring processes and implement additional training programs focusing on violent behavior and multicultural differences (Human Rights Watch, 1998). Still not only has this burdened the agency in a different way but it has also caused lawsuits to other areas. Another issue that arises out this is the fact that as prevalent as lawsuits are becoming against police officers and departments, it is never the officer that remains accountable in the long run. Civil remedies while the offer compensation to the family and victim, do not address flawed management, policies or patterns of abuse. More than likely the city or agency in question settled out of court to save face and the department from negative publicity. Cities like Los Angeles, New York City, and Philadelphia in the mid-1990s paid out an average of $79 million dollars in civil lawsuit awards and pretrial settlements for police officers (Human Rights Watch, 1998). As a result many cities are adjusting their legal defenses and taking on an aggressive litigation tactics and this includes stopping the brutality in the first place. One must also remember this money paid out is not coming from the police officer's salary but it is coming out of the… READ MORE

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