Jeffrey Melvin: City Of Colorado Springs Agrees To $3.2 Settlement 7 Years After Black Man Tased To Death
While there is no hard data on the exact amount that American cities have paid out in civil rights lawsuit settlements, it’s safe to say that violent police officers have cost taxpayers, us, billions of dollars. For example, the New York Comptroller cites $309.51 million as the amount that The Big Apple paid for 9,036 tort claims (claims paid for civil wrongs). We only highlight these numbers to say that not only is police brutality inhumane and immoral, it’s a bad business decision. We know the state doesn’t care about our lives, but choosing to kill, maim, and abuse us at this cost really puts a fine point on how deep the hate goes.
According to ABCNews, the City of Colorado Springs, Colorado has finally agreed to a $3.2 million lawsuit with the family of Jeffrey Melvin. On April 26, 2018, Melvin just happen to walk upon a scene where police were investigating an alleged disturbance unrelated to him. Despite the fact that there was no disturbance, police say they were forced to use their tasers when Melvin ran into an apartment and barricaded the door. Within 90 seconds of contact, Melvin was tasered 8 times which ultimately lead to his death. During the trial, one of the officers testified that he was not trained that electrocuting someone more than twice could be dangerous. A Colorado Springs Police Department deputy chief also testified that official protocol at the time was to continue using the taser until the suspect altered his or her behavior. Neither officer was held to account internally as CSPD determined they had done nothing wrong.
It’s unclear why it took almost eight years to reach this settlement but we’re sure the city’s lawyers did everything within their power to delay the process in hopes that they wouldn’t have to pay the family of a man they killed. It should come as no surprise that the department is standing on blue business regarding accountability or a lack thereof…
“While CSPD respects the contractual authority of our insurance carrier to force a settlement in this case, which they did, we do not agree with that decision and were prepared to proceed with a trial,” it said.
Oink. Oink.
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