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Top 25 Settlements: |
| Name | Amount | Date settled | Incident date | Brief notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William Monroe*-2 | $2,300,000.00 | 6/5/13 | 6/30/11 | Use of force (live rounds/less lethal gun) | |
| Family of Quanice Hayes*-2 | $2,095,081.00 | 3/10/21 | 2/9/17 | Shooting (died) | |
| Family of James Chasse, Jr | $1,600,000.00 | 7/28/10 | 9/17/06 | Use of force (beating led to death) | |
| Family of Aaron Campbell | $1,200,000.00 | 2/1/12 | 1/29/10 | Shooting (died) | |
| Don't Shoot Portland protestors*-3 | $1,034,332.22 (judgment) | 9/24/23 | 6/1/2020 | Use of Force/civil rights violations | |
| Family of Lane Martin*-2 | $975,000.00 | 9/9/20 | 7/30/19 | Shooting (died) | |
| Protestors August 2002 & May 2003 | $845,000.00 | 12/1/04 | 8/22/02 | Use of force (pepper spray) | |
| Family of Terrell Johnson*-2 | $600,000.00 | 7/21/21 | 5/10/17 | Shooting (died) | |
| Family of Damon Lowery | $600,000.00 | 6/25/05 | 12/5/99 | Use of force (leading to death) | |
| Jason Cox*-2 | $562,129.00 (jury) |
9/29/14 | 6/28/11 | Use of force | |
| Family of Raymond Gwerder | $500,000.00 | 11/14/07 | 11/4/05 | Shooting (died) | |
| Jason and Kristina Norris*-3 | $500,000.00 | 10/9/24 | 3/12/21 | Attacked by police dog (off-duty) | |
| Kyle Odell*-2 | $400,000.00 | 3/9/22 | 1/18/20 | Car crash injury (was in police car) | |
| Barbara & Ted Vickers, Estate of Dickie Dow | $380,000.00 | 3/27/02 | 10/19/98 | Wrongful death/Dickie Dow | |
| Family of James Jahar Perez | $350,359.00 | 9/3/08 | 3/28/04 | Shooting (died) | |
| Daniel Thomas*-4 | $311,000.00 | 3/14/08 & 9/28/04 | 7/11/03 | Use of force | |
| Gallagher Smith** | $306,000 (settlement/jury) |
7/24/13 | 11/13/10 | Use of force | |
| Michael Weisdorf*-3 | $300,000 |
11/1/23 | 7/18/20 | Use of force (broken arm) | |
| Dan Halsted | $258,040.00 (jury) |
3/14/12 | 6/17/08 | Use of force (Taser) | |
| Edward Gathright*-2 | $211,006.58 | ?-unknown | 5/13/01 | First Amendment violation | |
| Bruce Browne | $200,895.00 | 4/1/03 | 7/11/01 | Shooting (lived) | |
| Family of Dennis Young | $200,000.00 | 10/8/08 | 1/4/06 | Shooting (died) | |
| Maria-Janeth Rodriguez-Sanchez | $177,161.41 | 12/2/05 & 8/3/05 | 4/8/03 | Use of force | |
| Harold Hammick, Ri'Chard Booth & Alex Clay | $175,000.00 (jury) |
9/23/09 | 3/17/07 | Mistreatment (pointing guns and more) | |
| Erika (Angelica) Clark*-3 | $158,000.00 | 1/10/24 | 7/26/20 | Use of force | |
| Total | $16,239,004.21 |
Note that in 2024, a jury awarded the family of Michael Townsend, who was shot while in mental health crisis, over $1 million but in September the City decided to appeal.
Also in 2024, the City paid $175,000 in legal fees to Oregon Law Center for the work they had to do opposing a June 2023 anti-camping ordinance which the court put on hold and the City rewrote to avoid further litigation on that version.
Although the US Department of Justice Settlement Agreement from 2012 requires regular reporting on these payouts (Paragraph 222-e-viii), the data were only first published in February 2024 with no analysis of how the causes could be addressed with policy changes.
In late 2020, a Portlander was also good enough to share 10 years' worth of claims from a public records request, which show over 200 cases adding up to nearly $222,000 with amounts mostly under $5000. (We received info on another 9 such incidents in 2023, mostly related to protest incidents). The significance? $5000 is the threshold to send a case to Council for a vote. Many of the cases are for things like breaking (or running into) fences, hitting the wrong car's tires with spike strips, and other lost and damaged property. PCW contends that most of these incidents will still occur-- and still cost the City money-- even now that officers are wearing body cameras.
An additional $4,516,390.50 was paid out in ten negligence cases where police inaction led to disastrous results; PCW counts these separately from the active misconduct cases.
Moreover, from 2020-2024 we have been reviewing City Council and other records showing that from 2013-2024 the City paid out at least $2,256,391.98 for 57 officer-related auto accidents, an average cost of $39,585.82 per crash.
When we compared the average annual totals for misconduct incidents between 1993 and 2001 ($382,000) and from 2002-June 2011 ($636,000), it revealed that the advent of Portland's "Independent" Police Review (IPR) in 2002 had done little to slow the lawsuits or the misconduct that generates them, and in fact it may be that more people are turning to the courts rather than using the civilian complaint system (see People's Police Report #44, May 2008).
--Some of the amounts shown include legal expenses, making them appear higher than the settlements alone. But since this expense comes back to you, the taxpayer, we feel all expenses should be included when known. For example, the case involving protestors harmed at actions in 2002 and 2003 includes attorney fees. The 2023 Don't Shoot Portland judgment around protest actions in 2020 includes $784,326.22 in attorneys fees and costs.
--To be absolutely clear, the City is self-insured through the office of Risk Management, but settlements/awards of over $1 million are paid by an external insurance company.
*2-**-info or settlement/judgment added in 2020-2022.
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*3-info or settlement/judgment added in 2023-2024; Don't Shoot includes attorney fees.
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*4-Daniel Thomas' case ended with a judgment in March, 2008 of $100,000,
but the city
closed
out his original claim with $91,746.53 in city legal expenses.
The total reported payout including
attorney's fees was
$311,000 (Oregonian, 12/10/09)
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We use the term "settlement" loosely to cover settlements, judgments,
jury awards and other payouts by the city
to cover the costs of police misconduct.
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Portland Copwatch Portland Copwatch is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action.
Last updated October 17, 2024
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