California’s police misconduct lawsuit payoffs are high- profile and expensive. For example, Iraq War vet, Scott Olsen, was protesting in Oakland California in 2011 when a beanbag round shot by police struck him in the head. He received irreparable brain damage. Oakland settled the ensuing police civil lawsuit for $4.5 million.
In 2013, Los Angeles settled for $4.2 million when officers shot two women delivering newspapers by mistake. They were involved in an early morning manhunt for a violent former cop, Christopher Dorner. They mistook the women’s car for the suspects and opened fire. While the department first described the incident as a tragic mistake, it was later found the eight officers involved violated policy during the incident. Discipline for the officers involved in the case was handled within the department.
The movie Fruitvale Station was inspired by the shooting death of Oscar Grant III. He was killed by gunshot from police while handcuffing him in a subway in the Bay area. The officer responsible claimed he pulled his weapon on mistake. He meant to pull his taser. He was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. His young daughter and mother received settlements over one million dollars each.