“A jury has awarded a total of $4 million to two Los Angeles police officers who sued the department alleging discrimination and retaliation after the shooting of an unarmed autistic man five years ago….They alleged that as Latinos their restrictions [to desk duty] were discrimination after the shooting of Steven Eugene Washington, who was black. Chief Charlie Beck denied that race was involved in the restrictions, saying the men were on desk duty because of the department’s potential liability.” [Southern California Public Radio]
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Well if that’s not jackpot justice! $2 million apiece for officers who would likely have needed the better part of their lifetimes to earn that much? If that’s the reward for being the victim of discrimination, then sign me up.
Step 1: Become a cop
Step 2: Wrongly shoot an autistic kid
Step 3: Actually get in trouble for shooting autistic kid. This is going to be tricky as your Police Union is going to go to bat to you. If you play it right you will get stuck behind a desk but chances are you will just be back on the streets again.
Step 4: Sue
Step 5: Profit.
I suspect the jury was persuaded by the fact that the chief testified that he considered the shooting justified and that white officers who similarly killed an unarmed man returned to the field after six weeks. It does seem odd to simultaneously say that the shooting was justified and insist they’re too dangerous for the field.
If the Chief states they are too dangerous for field work, perhaps a sensible man would give him the benefit of the doubt.
Let’s put those cops back on the beat as the jury clearly believe should have happened. What area did those jurors live in….
The criminal standard is higher than the administrative one. It is quite possible that the evidence against these officers would be sufficient for the department to take disciplinary action against them but insufficient to obtain a criminal conviction.