The City of Oakland and its police department are whining that the cost of cracking down on the free speech of Occupy Oakland and cleaning up the resulting mess may exceed three million dollars.This is meant to be a valid argument for permanently suppressing our constitutionally-protected right to petition the government for redress of grievances.
http://oaklandlocal.com/...
Well, cry me a river. A simple Google search reveals that misconduct by the Oakland Police Department has cost the city about $20 million in the last five years alone. And that's not counting the future settlement costs for their current misconduct, as outlined in jpmassar's excellent diary.
http://www.dailykos.com/...
7/21/10
The city of Oakland has agreed to pay out millions of dollars because of mistakes made by the police force. In some cases, those mistakes were outright lies.
The $6.5 million settlement is the result of lawsuits over cops who reportedly gave false information in order to get search warrants.
http://abclocal.go.com/...
6/29/06
$3.5 Million Wrongful Death, Police Shooting Recovery
Won a $3.5 million settlement for the widow and son of an undercover Oakland police officer mistakenly shot and killed by fellow officers, and also won an appeal in that case making it harder for defendants to escape responsibility for their civil rights violations.
http://www.haddadandsherwin.com/...
Follow me below the sqiggle for even more OPD costs to the City of Oakland. My question is not, can we afford Occupy Oakland. My question is, can we afford the OPD?
ROE v. CITY OF OAKLAND, et al. 4:2008CV04228: The City of Oakland settled a $2 million federal lawsuit filed by 16 Asian American women who reported that Officer Richard Valerga touched them inappropriately during traffic stops. Valerga resigned and pleaded no contest in November 2006 to four misdemeanor counts of false imprisonment and violating the women's civil rights. U.S. District Court, Northern District (2008)
GLENN DAVIS v CITY OF OAKLAND 3:02-cv-02257-SI: A former police lieutenant with the Oakland police Department brought a failure to promote discrimination claim based upon gender and pregnancy. The jury awarded her $2 million. Post trial motions are pending. U. S. District Court, Northern District (2006).
LOCAL 10, INTERNATIONAL LONGSHORE AND WAREHOUSE UNION v CITY OF OAKLAND 3:03-cv-02962-TEH: Anti-war protesters subjected to illegal force by Oakland Police Officers who pelted the protesters indiscriminately with non-lethal weapons causing serious injuries. Case settled with a new crowd control policy and nearly $2million in damages for all the victims. U.S. District Court, Northern District (2005/2006)
MURPHY v CITY OF OAKLAND 3:04-cv-03062-TEH: Twenty-six year old African American man standing on a street corner in his neighborhood talking with friends when two Oakland police officers approached the group of men and began to harass them and search them without probable cause. Murphy ran from the officers and during the ensuing foot chase he was knocked over a fence by one of the officers who gave chase. He is now permanently paralyzed. Case went to trial and resulted in hung jury. Vote was five to three in favor of plaintiff. Case settled for $1.2 million. U.S. District Court, Northern District: (2006)
http://www.johnburrislaw.com/...
$1.5 million settlement OK'd in officer-involved death Oakland Tribune, September 23, 2009. The City Council on Tuesday night approved a $1.5 million settlement with the family of a 20-year-old man shot and killed by police two years ago. Gary King Jr. was fatally shot by police Sgt. Pat Gonzales during an altercation Sept. 20, 2007. The city maintained Gonzales believed King had been reaching for a gun, but the killing prompted public outcry from people who believed King was wrongfully killed. The family sued in 2008
http://www.haddadandsherwin.com/...