Quote:
Originally Posted by intakexhaust
Who determines and how do they arrive to a $30K each settlement? Where's the money come from to pay them... taken from the city coffers, police pension fund, liability re-insurance?
Anyhow, the bottom line is 'we the people' are the ones paying the victims. Can't we all just get along? NOW GET OFF MY LAWN!
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the jury (mostly, some input from the judge and from state statutes, i.e. legislature)
often a 'harm' component which is small and then a punitive component, which is often larger
the irony is that the bad overpaid cop does not have to pay, and I agree with daepp & hugh; you are right, the effing taxpayers get stuck (usually the city general fund; here, the UC equivalent unless they have insurance for idiot cop follies)
we have police abuse cases out the wazoo here (yeh, they are unionized) - the problem is that you need cops; and these type of things harm the needed cooperative relations between the citizens and the police