Bad police behavior has cost Los Angeles $384 million since September 2019, according to data evaluated by LA Public Press. That money went to pay out the nearly 2,000 claims against the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) for things like excessive use of force, car collisions and harassment by fellow officers.
The top three payout categories totaled $345 million. Civil rights violations, police shootings, excessive use of force, and illegal searches collectively accounted for $183 million, almost half of the claim amounts. Another 23% resulted from traffic collisions, and 17% related to labor and employment issues.
Despite grumbling about those expenses and what’s behind them from City Hall, the payouts haven’t slowed down. The city has doled out $48 million to people suing LAPD in just the last two and a half months— representing a quarter of the $187 million budget for settling cases this fiscal year. By this time last year, the police liabilities had cost the city $54.9 million, prompting LA Controller Kenneth Mejia to proclaim on social media that the city was going broke…