A Black woman received $150,000 after alleging a police officer yanked her from a public restroom and forced her onto the sidewalk in handcuffs while investigating a reported theft.
A computer engineer, who is also Black, got $192,000 after officers — mistaking him for a robbery suspect — beat him so severely on his front lawn that he was hospitalized.
Five other Black men collecteda total of $116,000 after suing the same officer for assault and violating their civil rights as he cleared sidewalks in a gentrifying neighborhood. In one case, a video showed the officer sitting on a man’s chest and showering him with pepper spray after punching him in the face six times.
Over the past five years, the D.C. government has spent millions of dollars settling dozens of police misconduct lawsuits — settlements that, even as officers acknowledge no wrongdoing, documenta trail of nonfatal encounters […]
The police should be taught psychology and sociology to prepare them to be able to de-escalate situations instead of using hard-core physical means and weapons that hurt people. The methods they use is important in their relations to the public which they use to help the public, and should not estrange them from the public instead of creating a good relationship with the public.