A Black woman and a group of young girls who were wrongfully forced out of their car, held at gunpoint and handcuffed by police in suburban Denver in 2020 have reached a $1.9 million legal settlement.

The 6-year-old Lovely watched as her mother, Brittney Gilliam, was led to a patrol car in handcuffs after she shouted in frustration at the police, who mistakenly believed the car she was driving was stolen.

Three years later, Gilliam has agreed to a $1.9 million settlement with city officials in the Denver suburb of Aurora to resolve a lawsuit that claimed the police officers’ actions were evidence of “profound and systematic” racism, a lawyer for the family, David Lane, announced Monday.

One of the officers who stopped the car, Darian Dasko, was suspended for 160 hours. He and the other officer, Madisen Moen, still work for the department.

This settlement also marks the latest Aurora has been forced to pay out over police misconduct. The city settled for $15 million in 2021 with the parents of Elijah McClain. He was a 23-year-old Black man who was killed in 2019 after he was stopped as he walked down the street, placed in a neck hold and injected with a sedative. One police officer also was convicted in his death and two others were acquitted. Two paramedics were also convicted.

A state civil rights investigation — launched amid outrage over McClain’s death and released after Gilliam’s lawsuit was filed — found there was a deeply engrained culture of racially biased policing in the department.

  • IgnatiusJReilly
    43·
    4 months ago

    Taxpayers get left with the bill, while police go on paid leave or get fired only to be rehired in a neighboring department.

    Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) should be trained and licensed in a federally accredited program. Then individually insured. The more they F-up, the higher the rates. The more it costs the insurance company to payout, the higher the rates. Much like drivers after accidents & moving violations. The more on your record, the more it’s going to cost you. Until no insurance companies want to provide you coverage.

    Insurance costs must be covered by the LEO, not the taxpayer. Insurance is used for any liability or criminal costs, not the taxpayer. LEOs risk higher premiums or loss of coverage for bad behavior or incompetence.

    All investigations of LEOs should be done at the state level by a independent body / board. All disciplinary files & lawsuits are recorded to a federally maintained database and are under pervue of a federal overwatch. No more investigating ‘your own’ and finding them not at fault. Any department found circumventing this can lose their department’s accreditation and federally investigated.

    Other professions have to follow a similar process. It’s not a new idea. Hell, every driver has to maintain a license and insurance to drive.

    • Mycatiskai@lemmy.ca
      12·
      4 months ago

      Other professions have to follow a similar process. It’s not a new idea. Hell, every driver has to maintain a license and insurance to drive

      Maybe your country should do the same with firearms too. In Canada you take a course, pass a written test and a firearm test before sending your paperwork in to be reviewed for minimum 28 days where they will ask current and former partners if there is any reason to not allow you to have firearms.

      • IgnatiusJReilly
        7·
        4 months ago

        No argument here. And liability insurance with competency evaluation with license renewal.