Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


When Officers Kill, Redress Is Rare, Review Shows

Reuters

   The death in Minneapolis on Monday of George Floyd, the black man
   captured on video pleading for his life as a white police officer
   kneeled on his neck, has prompted three nights of protests, at times
   giving rise to violence, arson and looting.

   It has also again trained a national spotlight on a perceived lack of
   police accountability for violent encounters with the American public.

   The issue ignited in 2014 with the shooting death of Michael Brown, a
   black teen, by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, which
   triggered angry protests.

   Since then, the "Black Lives Matter" movement -- sparked by the killing
   of black teen Trayvon Martin by civilian George Zimmerman in Florida in
   2012 -- has become closely associated with critiques of overly
   aggressive policing, particularly against black people.

   Heightened public awareness, enhanced by the increasing prevalence of
   cellphone video, has kept the issue front and center through a series
   of incidents that have made national headlines in recent years.

   In another incident this year that has led to renewed unrest in the
   wake of Floyd's death, police in Louisville, Kentucky, killed Breonna
   Taylor, an emergency medical technician, on March 13 while executing a
   search warrant.

   Shielded from settlements

   In the majority of cases, Reuters found, police and the localities that
   employ them are largely shielded from having to pay financial
   settlements to victims or their grieving families by "qualified
   immunity," a legal concept developed by the U.S. Supreme Court that
   gives wide latitude to government employees when they act in the line
   of duty.

   The defense increasingly protects cops even when courts have determined
   that the officers violated a victim's civil rights, the investigation
   showed.

   One exception, however, is high-profile cases like those of Michael
   Brown that gain national attention. These cases are often outliers,
   resulting in generous settlement offers, and sometimes even criminal
   charges, before police have any recourse to claiming qualified
   immunity.

   Here is a summary of some of those cases and their outcomes:

   Michael Brown, a black 18-year-old killed by a white police officer in
   Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014.

   Settlement: $1.5 million.

   Criminal charges: None.

   Eric Garner, a black man who died after repeatedly crying "I can't
   breathe" while placed in a chokehold by a New York City cop during an
   attempted 2014 arrest.

   Settlement: $5.9 million.

   Criminal charges: None.

   Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old black boy who was holding a toy gun when shot
   dead by a Cleveland, Ohio, police officer in 2014.

   Settlement: $6 million.

   Criminal charges: None.

.