Settlement
Does paying large financial settlements lead to change? Not according to the history of the Minneapolis police department, and it’s not all their fault. It is interesting that in most cases, the victim’s family attorney claims that this settlement is the event that will create change-- still, the same scenario is repeated every couple years. While blatant racism needs to be addressed, we have never honestly created a permanent solution. I will address the history and the complications below. There are solutions. Keep in mind, the middle class and the working class are paying the brunt of the taxes today, so ultimately, we are paying these fines.
2021
Floyd Family awarded $27 million. Benjamin Crump, an attorney for the Floyd family, said the agreement was the largest pre-trial settlement of a wrongful death lawsuit in U.S. history. The size signifies that a Black person's death at the hands of police "will no longer be written off as trivial, unimportant or unworthy of consequences," Crump said at a news conference where he was joined by Floyd's relatives, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other officials.
2019
Justine (Damond) Ruszczyk’s family awarded $20 million. Mayor Jacob Frey said. "I do believe that we will move forward together, united in the shared believe that such a tragedy should never occur in our city." Robert Bennett, an attorney for Ruszczyk’s family, added that Ruszczyk’s family “would only agree to settle this case if the amount of the settlement itself was transformational,” marking a mandate for reform within the police department. “This is an unmistakable message to change the Minneapolis Police Department in ways that will help all of its communities,” Bennett said that since Ruszczyk’s death, there have been “many positive changes” in city leadership, including the mayor and the chief of police.
2017
Philando Castile family receives $3 million settlement. Valerie Castile received $2.995 million, according to the city's statement. The settlement, which must be approved by a state court, will avert a federal wrongful death lawsuit in the Castile case, according to The Associated Press. "The important work of healing our community continues," St. Anthony said, adding that "the City and residents are working to improve trust between the police department and the communities it serves."
2016
Jamar Clark’s family awarded $200,000. David Suro, the lawyer representing Clark’s father, said the settlement was reached Thursday afternoon after closed-door mediation with the sides in separate rooms. “What this family really wanted wasn’t money,” Suro said. “They would like to see some accountability.” But Suro said the family came to understand that systemic changes to police training weren’t possible through the courts. The family is satisfied with the $200,000, he said. “They were after change, and the city has indicated that’s not part of this process,” Suro said. (That’s disheartening, but at least it’s honest.)
2013
In 2013, Minneapolis paid $3 million to the family of David Smith. David died after being restrained by two police officers. According to court documents, Smith, 28, was acting erratically at the downtown YMCA. Two police officers responded to a call from employees at the gym and after a struggle, placed Smith on his stomach with his hands cuffed behind him. Documents say one of the officers continually drove his knee into Smith's back. Officers called for medical assistance when they noticed Smith had stopped breathing. Smith was revived but died about a week later without gaining consciousness. Robert Bennett, the lead attorney for the family, said, “I’m glad David Smith and his family finally got some justice.” Bennett said that as part of the settlement, the city’s police officers will receive additional training on how to restrain suspects, although he said many officers had already gotten the training that would have prevented Smith’s death.
2011
Dominic Felder family awarded $2.1 million in damages and attorney fees. Dominic Felder was shot and killed by two Minneapolis police officers. Felder's family said he was experiencing a mental health breakdown when he was confronted by officers in 2006. The officers claimed Felder grabbed one of the officer's guns before they opened fire on him. We are very grateful to the jury, and the family is very grateful," said attorney James Behrenbrinker, who represented Katie J. Felder, Dominic's mother, in her lawsuit against the city. Felder's mother, brother, sister and two daughters "suffered a tremendous loss," Behrenbrinker said. "He can't be replaced." The award includes $1.01 million in compensatory damages for Felder's death and an additional $400,000 in punitive damages against each officer for the events that unfolded on the night of Sept. 20, 2006, when Felder died. Public outcry after Felder's death contributed to changing the way police investigated officer-involved shootings. City officers now are required to give a statement within 48 hours. The department previously had no time limit, which frustrated victim relatives and community leaders.
The reality is settlements don’t change anything, other than make us all poorer. I’m not saying that people don’t deserve some money. I think it’s easy to write a check when you’re not the one paying it. Sometimes the taxpayer rip off will be disguised by the statement, “Insurance is paying the settlement.” We all know how insurance works. You pay in, so they can pay out. Imagine the boost $21 million could give to your community.
While African Americans have a legitimate complaint that we haven’t taken abuse by law enforcement in their community seriously, police also have legitimate complaint that we are not portraying the dangerousness of their work honestly. And by the way, one doesn’t cancel out the other. They both need to be addressed. The most recent data compiled by the FBI, 2019, indicates that most murderers in the U.S. are African Americans. (And I don’t mean the greatest %, I mean flat out raw numbers). It was the same in 2018 and I imagine it was the same in 2020. When 12.2% of the population is committing the most murders, there is clearly a problem in this community that needs to be addressed. The dangerousness of these communities is amplified by the professionals sent in to these communities to address the problem. It’s not a coincidence that most of the shooters are rookies.
The prototype of an aspiring police officer in Minnesota is a white male who grew up on a farm who wants to make the world better. Once he receives his training, where do you think he’s going to get a job? Initially, in the communities that hire officers with no experience. And where are they? They are in communities in Minneapolis and St. Paul, where officers often transfer out once they have gained some experience because the work there is dangerous.
Let me explain the significance of this chart. It basically comes down to financial opportunities. Asian Americans, as a group, are the wealthiest racial group in the U.S. (Keep in mind, there are poor Asians, as indicated by homeless camps in the metro that are predominantly Hmong.) People with the best opportunities are the least criminal. There is also a strong emphasis on support from family in the Asian culture which helps. The 2nd wealthiest group is white Americans, which is also the 2nd group that commits crimes at a lower rate than they exist in society.
Remember when we created that large educational and employment boost to African American communities? Oh, that’s right—it never happened. The solution is creating better educational and employment opportunities but they need to be real and different than what we are doing now. Here is one example: We need computer programmers and technicians. What if we invested a large amount of money in poverty ridden areas to train people in these jobs? Jobs that pay well and have benefits. At the present time, the U.S. is sending many of these jobs overseas because we simply don’t have the people to fill the need. Like most professional work, this training would need to start in the school system.
I am frustrated with the large amount of taxpayers’ money wasted on Minneapolis and St. Paul in the last year. Did you know we paid $200 million to their schools to assist them with returning students back to school, and they never returned the students back to school? Shouldn’t there be some accountability for this money? We need to invest some money in Minneapolis and St. Paul communities, but it has to be into tasks that will actually make a difference. Incentives to businesses and educational tutoring are the answer. Or we can keep randomly paying large amounts of money like a lottery which is supposed to comfort people who lost a family member.
There is money to be collected, but it needs to stop coming from the working and middle class. Billionaires pay 23% of their income in federal, state, and local taxes, while the average American pay 28%. The wealthiest 1% of Americans now have more money than the entire middle class, which is 46% of the population. This is a change that began in 2010. We need politicians who have the character to stand up to the wealthiest Americans and have them pay their fair share. The frustration in America has a lot to do with being squeezed financially. Most poor Americans are white, an understanding Donald Trump knew well. (It’s a huge voting block.) Minorities are over-represented among the poor, which creates frustration in those communities also. Mark my words, you start giving poor people of all races more opportunities, and all of this anger dissipates.
Thanks for listening,
FrankAt the present time, I’m starting to set up presentations on Burning Bridges, and we will be offering a special to book clubs on all my books:
Beaver Island Brewing on St. Patrick's Day
2021
Floyd Family awarded $27 million. Benjamin Crump, an attorney for the Floyd family, said the agreement was the largest pre-trial settlement of a wrongful death lawsuit in U.S. history. The size signifies that a Black person's death at the hands of police "will no longer be written off as trivial, unimportant or unworthy of consequences," Crump said at a news conference where he was joined by Floyd's relatives, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other officials.
2019
Justine (Damond) Ruszczyk’s family awarded $20 million. Mayor Jacob Frey said. "I do believe that we will move forward together, united in the shared believe that such a tragedy should never occur in our city." Robert Bennett, an attorney for Ruszczyk’s family, added that Ruszczyk’s family “would only agree to settle this case if the amount of the settlement itself was transformational,” marking a mandate for reform within the police department. “This is an unmistakable message to change the Minneapolis Police Department in ways that will help all of its communities,” Bennett said that since Ruszczyk’s death, there have been “many positive changes” in city leadership, including the mayor and the chief of police.
2017
Philando Castile family receives $3 million settlement. Valerie Castile received $2.995 million, according to the city's statement. The settlement, which must be approved by a state court, will avert a federal wrongful death lawsuit in the Castile case, according to The Associated Press. "The important work of healing our community continues," St. Anthony said, adding that "the City and residents are working to improve trust between the police department and the communities it serves."
2016
Jamar Clark’s family awarded $200,000. David Suro, the lawyer representing Clark’s father, said the settlement was reached Thursday afternoon after closed-door mediation with the sides in separate rooms. “What this family really wanted wasn’t money,” Suro said. “They would like to see some accountability.” But Suro said the family came to understand that systemic changes to police training weren’t possible through the courts. The family is satisfied with the $200,000, he said. “They were after change, and the city has indicated that’s not part of this process,” Suro said. (That’s disheartening, but at least it’s honest.)
2013
In 2013, Minneapolis paid $3 million to the family of David Smith. David died after being restrained by two police officers. According to court documents, Smith, 28, was acting erratically at the downtown YMCA. Two police officers responded to a call from employees at the gym and after a struggle, placed Smith on his stomach with his hands cuffed behind him. Documents say one of the officers continually drove his knee into Smith's back. Officers called for medical assistance when they noticed Smith had stopped breathing. Smith was revived but died about a week later without gaining consciousness. Robert Bennett, the lead attorney for the family, said, “I’m glad David Smith and his family finally got some justice.” Bennett said that as part of the settlement, the city’s police officers will receive additional training on how to restrain suspects, although he said many officers had already gotten the training that would have prevented Smith’s death.
2011
Dominic Felder family awarded $2.1 million in damages and attorney fees. Dominic Felder was shot and killed by two Minneapolis police officers. Felder's family said he was experiencing a mental health breakdown when he was confronted by officers in 2006. The officers claimed Felder grabbed one of the officer's guns before they opened fire on him. We are very grateful to the jury, and the family is very grateful," said attorney James Behrenbrinker, who represented Katie J. Felder, Dominic's mother, in her lawsuit against the city. Felder's mother, brother, sister and two daughters "suffered a tremendous loss," Behrenbrinker said. "He can't be replaced." The award includes $1.01 million in compensatory damages for Felder's death and an additional $400,000 in punitive damages against each officer for the events that unfolded on the night of Sept. 20, 2006, when Felder died. Public outcry after Felder's death contributed to changing the way police investigated officer-involved shootings. City officers now are required to give a statement within 48 hours. The department previously had no time limit, which frustrated victim relatives and community leaders.
The reality is settlements don’t change anything, other than make us all poorer. I’m not saying that people don’t deserve some money. I think it’s easy to write a check when you’re not the one paying it. Sometimes the taxpayer rip off will be disguised by the statement, “Insurance is paying the settlement.” We all know how insurance works. You pay in, so they can pay out. Imagine the boost $21 million could give to your community.
While African Americans have a legitimate complaint that we haven’t taken abuse by law enforcement in their community seriously, police also have legitimate complaint that we are not portraying the dangerousness of their work honestly. And by the way, one doesn’t cancel out the other. They both need to be addressed. The most recent data compiled by the FBI, 2019, indicates that most murderers in the U.S. are African Americans. (And I don’t mean the greatest %, I mean flat out raw numbers). It was the same in 2018 and I imagine it was the same in 2020. When 12.2% of the population is committing the most murders, there is clearly a problem in this community that needs to be addressed. The dangerousness of these communities is amplified by the professionals sent in to these communities to address the problem. It’s not a coincidence that most of the shooters are rookies.
The prototype of an aspiring police officer in Minnesota is a white male who grew up on a farm who wants to make the world better. Once he receives his training, where do you think he’s going to get a job? Initially, in the communities that hire officers with no experience. And where are they? They are in communities in Minneapolis and St. Paul, where officers often transfer out once they have gained some experience because the work there is dangerous.
Let me explain the significance of this chart. It basically comes down to financial opportunities. Asian Americans, as a group, are the wealthiest racial group in the U.S. (Keep in mind, there are poor Asians, as indicated by homeless camps in the metro that are predominantly Hmong.) People with the best opportunities are the least criminal. There is also a strong emphasis on support from family in the Asian culture which helps. The 2nd wealthiest group is white Americans, which is also the 2nd group that commits crimes at a lower rate than they exist in society. Remember when we created that large educational and employment boost to African American communities? Oh, that’s right—it never happened. The solution is creating better educational and employment opportunities but they need to be real and different than what we are doing now. Here is one example: We need computer programmers and technicians. What if we invested a large amount of money in poverty ridden areas to train people in these jobs? Jobs that pay well and have benefits. At the present time, the U.S. is sending many of these jobs overseas because we simply don’t have the people to fill the need. Like most professional work, this training would need to start in the school system.
I am frustrated with the large amount of taxpayers’ money wasted on Minneapolis and St. Paul in the last year. Did you know we paid $200 million to their schools to assist them with returning students back to school, and they never returned the students back to school? Shouldn’t there be some accountability for this money? We need to invest some money in Minneapolis and St. Paul communities, but it has to be into tasks that will actually make a difference. Incentives to businesses and educational tutoring are the answer. Or we can keep randomly paying large amounts of money like a lottery which is supposed to comfort people who lost a family member.
There is money to be collected, but it needs to stop coming from the working and middle class. Billionaires pay 23% of their income in federal, state, and local taxes, while the average American pay 28%. The wealthiest 1% of Americans now have more money than the entire middle class, which is 46% of the population. This is a change that began in 2010. We need politicians who have the character to stand up to the wealthiest Americans and have them pay their fair share. The frustration in America has a lot to do with being squeezed financially. Most poor Americans are white, an understanding Donald Trump knew well. (It’s a huge voting block.) Minorities are over-represented among the poor, which creates frustration in those communities also. Mark my words, you start giving poor people of all races more opportunities, and all of this anger dissipates.
Thanks for listening,
FrankAt the present time, I’m starting to set up presentations on Burning Bridges, and we will be offering a special to book clubs on all my books:
Beaver Island Brewing on St. Patrick's Day
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