ARE THE POLICE BECOMING AS DANGEROUS TO US AS CRIMINALS?

Today's Waterloo Region Record carrys this story titled "Baltimore reaches $6.4M settlement with Gray's family". If this settlement for Wrongful Death was the one and only, then the above title would be inappropriate. However we are advised that Baltimore spent $5.7 million for 102 court judgements and settlements for police misconduct between 2011 and last fall. What the hell are you kidding me? Is this no more than the city paying a license fee to allow their police to continue on with business as usual?

New York City last July settled for $5.9 Million with the family of Eric Garner who died after being put in a police officer's chokehold. In 2001 the City of Chicago settled for $18 million after a wrongful death lawsuit in the case of La Tanya Haggerty.

Here in Waterloo Region we also have lawsuits against our police as well as sucessful settlements. The problem here is that everything comes with confidentiality clauses. In other words the police can say yes we'll settle with you for our misconduct if you sign a confidentiality clause. Again it simply becomes a shameful, taxpayer funded way to pay off victims and keep the public in the dark regarding police abuses.