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The Cities Blog
Brandt Williams

Minneapolis has paid more than $9 million to resolve cop lawsuits since 2009

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The parents of Terrance Franklin, the 22-year-old man shot and killed by Minneapolis police officers on May 10, say they're preparing to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the police department.  Two officers were injured during the confrontation with Franklin in the dark cramped basement of an Uptown area home.  Police say the shooting was justified.

As in other officer-involved lawsuits, lawyers from the Minneapolis City Attorney's office will represent the officers named in the suit. Between 2009 and the end of last month, the city attorney's office has resolved 116 officer conduct cases, according to the most recent data provided by the city attorney's office. The city prevailed in just under half of those.  In the 17 cases that went to trial during that period, the city won all but two of the trials. The city also successfully defended officers in five trials it litigated in 2013.

But the city lost two cases in 2011.  A federal court jury ordered the city to pay more than $2 million, including attorney's fees, to the mother of Dominic Felder, an unarmed man who was shot and killed by two officers in 2007.

The city also was ordered to pay Nicole Madison nearly $300,000. Officer Daniel Willis struck Madison, described in the court complaint as a woman who was 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighed 130 pounds, outside a downtown nightclub in 2008.The blow bloodied her face and knocked her unconscious.  However, City Attorney Susan Segal said the bulk of the court's award, $275,000 went to pay Madison's attorney fees.  Segal also said the city has been successful in more than 90 percent of trials for non-officer involved lawsuits.

Since 2009, the city has paid nearly $9.5 million in settlements and judgments in officer-involved cases. (Here's my story on settlement numbers going back to 1992.)

Last week, the city also settled an officer conduct suit for an incident involving a teenage girl.  The unnamed girl alleges officers treated her roughly as they took her to the city's curfew center in 2010. However, the details of the settlement are being held pending city council approval.  Segal saaid the council will vote on the settlement Oct. 18.