Local Colorado officials have reached an $8.5 million settlement with a woman who was hospitalized in 2022 after being left handcuffed in a police SUV that was then hit by a train.
The city of Fort Lupton and town of Platteville, Colorado, agreed on the settlement with the victim, Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, according to a release from the Fort Lupton Police Department. The settlement amount will be split equally between the town and city and paid by their insurers, according to attorney Eric M. Ziporin, whose office represents the city.
Rios, who was a suspect in a road rage case, survived the September 2022 collision but suffered nine broken ribs, a broken arm and other injuries.
Police are supposed to be civilians. The whole idea of America avoiding mitary dictatorship was vested in the Army being under the control of the Commander in Chief (a civilian chosen by civilians), In conjunction with the police force being comprised of civilians, otherwise that force is just a military with a different name. You can make the argument they’re above civilians in current times but this is by no mean integral to american policing, and is in fact antithetical to the American idea of police.
Don’t get me wrong I still think they’re problematic even in the theoretical best case scenario, but they’re definitely civilians. Know you enemy, know them well.
I’m not an expert on the origins of police in the US, but I thought their origin story was basically to oppress the civilian population to protect corporate property.
Like, their entire purpose and why they were given authority was so that they could beat down civilians in the name of corporate profits. Which is the opposite of what you’re claiming.
How are those contradictory? Can a civilian force not shakedown people to protect property?
Or are you asking me why they made a theoretical safety on the idea of policing instead of just telling everyone ‘Hey these are going to be our new chosen opressors, have fun!’
I think the idea is that civilian force has governmental protections that other civilians would otherwise never have.
Qualified immunity started in 1967. These protections aren’t inherent to policing, they’ve been slowly added on over time.