Quote :

"NYC settles 50-bullet cop lawsuit for $7 million Wed Jul 28, 7:08 am ET NEW YORK – The city of New York has agreed to pay more than $7 million to settle a civil lawsuit stemming from the fatal 50-bullet police shooting of an unarmed man on his wedding day. The settlement filed in Brooklyn federal court on Tuesday pays $3.25 million to the estate of Sean Bell, who was killed in 2006 outside a strip club in Queens while leaving his bachelor party. As part of the settlement, the city agreed to pay $3 million to Joseph Guzman and $900,000 to Trent Benefield, both of whom were wounded in the shooting that killed their friend. The lawsuit had accused the city of wrongful death, negligence, assault and civil rights violations. "We hope that all parties can find some measure of closure by this settlement," the city's attorney, Michael A. Cardozo, said in a statement. An attorney for the plaintiffs, Scott Rynecki, said the settlement was hard-fought over two days and that the plaintiffs felt it was the best outcome possible. "I think it was all about closure at this point," Rynecki told The Associated Press in a phone interview. Three police officers were acquitted of manslaughter and other charges in 2008. Federal authorities in February declined to bring civil rights charges against them. The officers remain on modified duty and are facing departmental charges that could result in their dismissal. The Bell settlement follows other multimillion-dollar payouts in high-profile civil lawsuits involving the police department. In June, the city agreed to pay a record for a civil rights lawsuits when it agreed to settle for $9.9 million with Barry Gibbs, an innocent man who spent 19 years in prison after being framed by a police detective. In 2001, the city and police union agreed to pay $8.7 million to Abner Louima, who was beaten and sodomized with a broomstick in a police precinct by officers. After legal fees, Louima was left with about $5.8 million."

over $20 million in 10 years paid out due to police incompetence. Are these settlements covered by taxpayers?

7/28/2010 12:49:09 PM

through higher insurance premiums, i would guess

7/28/2010 1:04:32 PM

isnt that the average salary in NYC? 20 mil aint nothin to them

7/28/2010 1:04:49 PM

jesus 50 bullets?

7/28/2010 1:17:50 PM

no, 50 jesus bullets

7/28/2010 1:21:21 PM

weak

7/28/2010 1:31:56 PM

I lived in NYC when that incident went down. What that article fails to mention is that the victim tried to RAM his vehicle into the police officers.

7/28/2010 1:48:40 PM

The court says otherwise. The court is always right.

7/28/2010 1:50:29 PM

if he did that then they had no choice but to use force

i dont even know the details so i cant say

but still, 50 bullets??

they dont use 50 bullets on a nigga when he raids a police station

7/28/2010 1:59:17 PM

The police officers were plain-clothes IIRC

7/28/2010 2:03:30 PM

WOOT WOOT!

Now if only lafta could figure out how to pay the fuck up.

7/28/2010 2:12:40 PM

Bell was slingin in the wrong neighborhood, the local cats who ran that part of Jamaica, Queens paid off the cops to do it...it goes much, much deeper than the headlines

7/28/2010 2:37:42 PM

Wait... did the police shoot 50 bullets in the entire raid or did the nigpot have 50 bullets in his body.

7/28/2010 3:41:10 PM