Austin, Texas Makes its Largest Payout in a Fatal Police Shooting Case – Part 2
In February, 2017, the Austin, Texas, city council approved a settlement of $3.25 million to be paid to the family of David Joseph. This was the largest settlement related to a police shooting in the city’s history. See Part 1 of this continuing series to learn more about Joseph.
Twenty-five-year-old Ezell Ford, an African-American man, was allegedly shot by officers with the Los Angeles Police Department on August 11, 2014. He died at a hospital a few hours later. Ford was allegedly unarmed and had been walking on a sidewalk when two police officers allegedly got out of their vehicle and confronted him. The officers were responding to a report of a shooting in the area. Stories about what happened that night differ, between witnesses and the officers. There were various investigations and trials. This incident happened shortly after Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson, Missouri, and it also sparked a great deal of outrage. Ultimately, the police officers kept their jobs and were not charged criminally and Ford’s family was paid $1.5 million by the city.
On November 22, 2014, dispatchers in Cleveland, Ohio, received a call about someone in the park with a gun, possibly a juvenile with a toy gun. The dispatcher informed police of the call but did not mention the part about it probably being a juvenile or a toy gun. Two police officers went to the scene, where reportedly a male black was pointing a gun at people in the city park. Allegedly within seconds, 12-year-old Tamir Rice was shot by one of the officers; Rice died the next day. The settlement from the City of Cleveland in favor of the family of 12-year-old Tamir Rice was $6 million. Two years after the incident, disciplinary action was taken against the dispatcher who failed to make a full report; it amounted to an 8-day suspension.
In this continuing series, learn more about another alleged fatal police shooting that also involved millions in a city payout.
–Guest Contributor
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