Local Colorado officials have reached an $8.5 million settlement with a woman who was hospitalized in 2022 after being left handcuffed in a police SUV that was then hit by a train.
The city of Fort Lupton and town of Platteville, Colorado, agreed on the settlement with the victim, Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, according to a release from the Fort Lupton Police Department. The settlement amount will be split equally between the town and city and paid by their insurers, according to attorney Eric M. Ziporin, whose office represents the city.
Rios, who was a suspect in a road rage case, survived the September 2022 collision but suffered nine broken ribs, a broken arm and other injuries.
It’s awesome we are finally holding the police financially liable for their actions. My bad, it’s the taxpayers again.
You want change? Demand police accountability.
Police aren’t civilians and they aren’t workers. Abolish their “union” as well as Qualified Immunity. They can earn the right to not be prosecuted while doing their job…
Police are supposed to be civilians. The whole idea of America avoiding mitary dictatorship was vested in the Army being under the control of the Commander in Chief (a civilian chosen by civilians), In conjunction with the police force being comprised of civilians, otherwise that force is just a military with a different name. You can make the argument they’re above civilians in current times but this is by no mean integral to american policing, and is in fact antithetical to the American idea of police.
Don’t get me wrong I still think they’re problematic even in the theoretical best case scenario, but they’re definitely civilians. Know you enemy, know them well.
I’m not an expert on the origins of police in the US, but I thought their origin story was basically to oppress the civilian population to protect corporate property.
Like, their entire purpose and why they were given authority was so that they could beat down civilians in the name of corporate profits. Which is the opposite of what you’re claiming.
How are those contradictory? Can a civilian force not shakedown people to protect property?
Or are you asking me why they made a theoretical safety on the idea of policing instead of just telling everyone ‘Hey these are going to be our new chosen opressors, have fun!’
I think the idea is that civilian force has governmental protections that other civilians would otherwise never have.
Qualified immunity started in 1967. These protections aren’t inherent to policing, they’ve been slowly added on over time.
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Or take settlement money out of police pension funds.
Police absolutely ARE CIVILIANS
The problem is police aren’t treated like civilians.
Oxford Languages definition:
I’m obviously using the term in a non-military context as the topic is policing, not military or international conflict.
Where’s Oxford again? American policing is based on the fact that a civilian force polices a civilian body. Its part of the tools to avoid military dictatorship, the same way the President is a civilian chosen by the people to be the Commander in Chief of the military.
Marriam-webster:
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Cool now tell me what common parlance has to do with the legal classification of police officers? (Hint: legally cops are civilians and dictionaries dont supercede the law)
Goalpost shifted
The argument was always that cops are civilians, no posts have been moved, you just realized you’re wrong and a definition from a non legal document doesn’t mean jack shit when it comes to government classification.
Civilians don’t get free passes on murder, torture, intimidation, false evidence, etc etc etc.
So many people are anti-union but when it comes to the police union they’re oddly silent…
Friend’s mom frequently complained about unions - any union - because she heard people complaining on Fox or at work. She was a 20-year member of the police union (not as an officer). And bragged about that too.
He could never convince her of the mental disconnect there.
Like who?
Who is anti-union? Let me introduce you to the history of union busting in the US:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_union_busting_in_the_United_States?wprov=sfla1
They are literally above the law. So again, not civilians. That’s the difference. They aren’t a real union because it’s not workers banding together.
Cops don’t have qualified immunity in Colorado
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30 months of probation?! That’s basically a slap on the wrist. That’s not accountability, that’s doing the absolute minimum to make it LOOK like “see, we’re accountable!”. Dude handcuffed a person in a car on railroad tracks.
Did you read the post you replied to? They said financially liable. Read through the quote you responded with and tell us where they are held financially liable. They are (rightfully) mad that it’s the taxpayers that are effectively paying out the settlement instead of the police force.
Perhaps you should read it.
paid by their insurersOh, whew, at least it’s not the tax payers! You really got 'im with your crafty reading of the article.Edit: naw, I fucked up. My apologies. Carry on.
Is this sarcasm? I’m not sure.
Insurance is not free, you pay for it, if you have a claim your premiums go up.
Insurance companies don’t exist because of goodwill, they exist for profit.
edited.
No worries, thanks
I guess that’s technically accountability. Doesn’t sound like much of a punishment.
And this is damn near a unicorn. (and likely would have been swept under the rug without cam footage - just like every other case where cops see justice) Just like one black president didn’t signal the end of racism, a small percentage of cases where someone OTHER THAN taxpayers are on the hook for police misbehavior doesn’t signal the end of a need for reform, it signals a nearly imperceptible change to the status quo. I’m grateful for the change, but it’s barely a start.