New Report Documents $160 Million in Taxpayer Payouts for Police Misconduct in Minnesota

Hamline University Professor David Schultz released a study detailing taxpayer payouts for police misconduct in the state of Minnesota over a ten-year period.

SAINT PAUL, MN, UNITED STATES, June 7, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- Hamline University Professor David Schultz released a comprehensive study detailing taxpayer payouts for police misconduct in the state of Minnesota over a ten-year period. The study found that nearly thirty percent of all governmental bodies in the state made payouts for police misconduct. There were a total of 495 incidents which resulted in payouts of more than US $160,000,000.

An entire copy of the report along with the spreadsheet of all the payouts are located on Professor Schultz's webpage.

Minnesota was thrust in the national and international news in 2020 after a video revealed George Floyd was suffocated to death by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin. While Chauvin and the officers responsible for Floyd=s death were held criminally accountable, the City of Minneapolis was also sued, resulting in a $27 million dollar settlement.

Yet this settlement raised many questions. For example: how many police-civilian interactions result in payouts for police abuse of authority? How many cities make payouts? What types of incidents result in settlements? How much do taxpayers spend each year to pay for police misconduct?

Unfortunately there is no national database that answers these questions. And no state gathers this information either.

The Price of Injustice: Taxpayer Payouts for Police Misconduct in Minnesota is the culmination of two years of data gathering and research by Professor Schultz and his students to answer some of these questions. Schultz collected data from 239 state, city, and county governments or agencies in Minnesota, creating a first of its kind compilation of taxpayer payouts for police misconduct.

According to Schultz: "We learned a lot about who pays out and for what in Minnesota. But we also learned that there is still much we do not know. There is no standardization of data or mandatory reporting of situations where governments make payments for police misconduct."

The report found that nearly 30% of the governmental entities reported payouts for police misconduct. The actions ranged from damage to property, excessive use of force, to other civil rights violations. Total payouts from 2010 to 2020 were more than $160,000,000, involving 495 incidents. Minneapolis, the city where George Floyd was murdered, accounted for 177 payouts totaling $136,000,000. This amount does not include the payout for George Floyd's murder.

According to Schultz: "If we are going to make any police reforms we need to know the scope of the problem and what is happening. There are millions of police-civilian interactions every year and most occur without incident. While this study tells us critical things, it does not tell us what types of situations lead to payouts for police misconduct. We do not know how race, gender, or LGBTQ issues factor in. I hope this report begins a conversation and leads to the mandating of uniform reporting and data gathering on payouts for police misconduct both in Minnesota and nationwide. We cannot make good policy unless we first know what the scope of the problem is."

An entire copy of the report along with the spreadsheet of all the payouts is located at https://works.bepress.com/david_schultz/

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DAVID SCHULTZ
Hamline University
+1 612-396-8043
dschultz@hamline.edu