Mr. Gambrill begins his post by saying that, "There are some errors in the City Pages article from July 20, 2005..." and claims his post will clarify those "errors." It does not clarify anything. It does not prove City Pages erred. The source Mr. Gambrill cites, the City Attorney's Business Plan, mixes all city settlement monies with police settlement monies. The notations provided vis a vis the Kondirator and Siegel vs. Johnson cases clearly indicate this, and demonstrate that the bulk of total settlements in a given year can be non-police related. Mr. Gambrill infers that City Pages underestimated the amount of police settlements. He says a poster, uses CP story info, is wrong to say: "To me, the biggest waste is the $10 million-plus that's been paid out in settlements over the last 10 years due to cops not being able to control their tempers." Mr. Gambrill counters that the amount is "far in excess of $10 million over the past 10 years. In fact, over $10 million was paid out in 2003...alone." Yeah, and more than $8 million of that 2003 figure was Siegel vs. Johnson, or the LSGI settlement, which was not related to police conduct. Mr. Gambrill's source also clearly states that "the number of police misconduct lawsuits declined dramatically from 1998-2001." I think my colleagues Paul Demko and GR Anderson did a fabulous job on this story. Having it tarred by an incomplete, and then misinterpreted, citation from Mr. Gambrill does those writers a disservice.
Britt Robson Lyndale Senior Editor/Staff Writer, City Pages P.S.--Mssrs. Demko and Anderson were not consulted about this post. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Guy Gambill" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2005 8:58 PM Subject: [Mpls] Clarifications on the "More Cops" post and the City Pagesarticle > Hello, > > There are some errors in the City Pages article > from July 20, 2005...the errors in the aforementioned > post are based on the cited article. I'd like to > clarify a few numbers and provide some points of > reference for people to check on their own accord. > > First, from today's Post #5: > > "There's been a lot of talk in this forum about how > money has been "wasted" by city leaders that could > have gone to paying for more cops. To me, the biggest > waste is the $10 million-plus that's been paid out in > settlements over the last 10 years due to cops not > being able to control their tempers. For those who > like to do math, that's 133 extra cops we could've had > over > that span." > > Actually, the amount is far in excess of 10 million > over the past 10 years. In fact, over 10.5 million > was paid out in 2003 for settlements by the City of > Minneapolis alone. From page 46 of the City Attorney's > 5 year Business Plan for the 2004-2008 period; > > "One of the key indicators is the police misconduct > lawsuits. The number of police misconduct lawsuits > declined dramatically from 1998-2001. In 1998, 69 > new cases were filed as compared to 22 in 2001. The > trend is now moving in the other direction. Twenty- > eight police misconduct lawsuits were filed in 2002, > 33 cases in 2003, and 22 new cases through the 2nd > quarter, 2004." > "It is also noteworthy that the amount of police > misconduct settlements is increasing. In 1998, the > total amount for police misconduct settlements was > $1,250,000, or an average of $92,500 per case. In > 2003, there were 19 settlements for a total amount > of $568,765 or an average settlement of $29,935 per > case. Through 2nd quarter of 2004, there have been > 9 settlements for $2,295,297 (more than all of 2003) > for an average of $255,033 per case". > > From page 47 of the City Attorney's Plan, the > following liability payment amounts have gone out > for the respective years: > > $5,381,538--1999 > $11,571,517-2000 ($8,740,000 for the Kondirator case) > $2,891,079--2001 > $1,977,733-2002 > $10,584,302-2003 ($8,250,752-Siegel v. Johnson case) > $2,524,108 (through 6\30\2004) > > How these payments are broken down may be > referenced > in the aforementioned plan. If anyone would like a > digital (PDF) copy, please feel free to ask. > Again, think about these numbers. As someone who > advocates for Public Housing and Services and for > Veterans (24% of the Homeless adult population), and > for someone who is heavily involved in these issues... > it is excruciating to look at these expenditures and > to reflect that the total amount of HUD funding > allocated for all of Hennepin County this year > was 6.3 million...there were 9.5 million in > requests... > 3.2 million in funding was lost for programs housing > mentally ill people, for veterans, for women and > children...the cost of one lawsuit exceeded the total > HUD allocation for the entire county! > Once more, why is this way? Follow the money. > > Thanks, > Guy Gambill > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com > REMINDERS: > 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. > > 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. > > For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html > For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract > ________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] > Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
