… Middleton said when he arrived at the Bellwood Police station, instead of photographing his car, Det. Hernandez detained him for over seven hours and refused to explain the detention unless Middleton signed a document waiving his Miranda rights, which Middleton refused to do.
The lawsuit alleges Det. Hernandez eventually released Middletown without charges but refused to return his phone. Middleton’s lawsuit against Det. Hernandez and the villages claimed false arrest, unlawful detention, illegal seizure, conversion and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
In sworn testimony, Det. Hernandez acknowledged that the police were investigating three robberies that had occurred within an hour of each other and within a half-mile of each other. He said the modus operandi of the offender was similar in all three cases. The detective admitted, however, that Middleton was never investigated for the robberies. …
Why don’t cops and police departments have to carry insurance for this type of thing? It shouldn’t come from the taxpayer. If a cop is uninsurable, they shouldn’t be a cop.
Payouts should come from their pension fund.
It will come from taxpayers, regardless - insurance isn’t magic.
Edit: I suppose “from cops” implies they be held personally accountable. I think that’s reasonable, but a change like this would probably require some sort of large scale organizing effort and unfortunately I don’t think the average person cares enough to bother.
Even if the insurance is paid for by the police department, rising premiums for certain individuals will be a good incentive to keep those people in line.
And insurance companies are good at tracking problems. So if Joe Likestobeatblacks moves from policeforce A to policeforce B, the new department might think about this twice when insurance tells them “Oh, you want to insure Joe Likestobeatblacks? Now that will be another 5k per month!”
Shouldn’t be the police department, it should be the union if it’s not the officer.
I was thinking like how doctors have to pay for their own malpractice insurance.
Because the tax payer would then pay for the insurance instead, and of course this would be priced in a way that the insurance company makes a profit in the end, so the taxpayer would end up paying more.