Give the money back to the taxpayer and fire the chief of police. That'll be a better solutionConservatives believe in holding elected and public officials accountable and the courts are precisely where the founding fathers preferred to address civil torts & crimes. The scale of the award can be argued as excessive or not, but it arose out of the courts and was determined by a jury.
A citizen has little power to fire the chief. However, a pattern of large jury awards for the same/similar issue becomes a political problem as it *finally* starts getting the taxpaying voters attention, among other aspects. And it is the taxpaying voter who elects the leadership that employs the mis/mal-feasant Barney-Fife's. On the other hand, if the taxpaying voter (footing the bill for these awards) keeps electing mis/mal-feasant leadership, then clearly the voters of that jurisdiction (as a whole) tolerate/prefer the situation.
Once lawyers started advertising, it became a failed system.
Fire the chief if you really love dogs.