An adversarial media used to use public pressure to keep police departments from misbehaving, but that was before the media realized they and the police were on the same team.
Sounds like China, where they will bill the family of an executed criminal the cost of the bullet used to kill the criminal.
If instead of relying on this rag for info, people read the New York Times, they would know that the law firm that sent the letter and the NYPD legal department have dropped the case. It was a form letter, no one bothered to inquire about how the vehicle was damaged, and as soon as they found out they withdrew the request for payment. It is really astonishing how carefully the article is written to create maximum indignation.
The REAL story: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/06/nyregion/woman-charged-for-damages-to-police-car-that-struck-tamon-robinson.html?_r=0
But naturally, not many will bother to read it, they would rather get all self-righteous and scream and holler. /facepalm/
The son was 27 years old. His estate should pay the damages to the cop car. The family is probably the trustee of the estate and therefore has a responsibility to pay if the son had sufficient assets.
However if the son had no money, then the family cannot be held liable, unless they were somehow legal guardians of this 27 year old.
For what it’s worth........
City Tried to Bill Dead Man for Damage to Police Car That Struck and Killed Him
Late last month, Laverne Dobbinson received a letter, addressed to her son, from a law firm notifying him that it had been retained by the City of New York to collect money for damages to a police car. ..........
On Friday, the law firm handling the collection effort said it had formally dropped the effort. Paul J. Browne, a spokesman for the Police Department, said his agency did not send out the letter and referred the matter to the city’s Law Department.
“We don’t know any instance where we send letters like that,” he said. “I’m not sure how it came out.”
Kate Ahlers, a spokeswoman for the Law Department, said the notice had been sent in error after her department received a referral from a unit of the Police Department. “We regret that Mr. Robinson’s family received a collection notice,” she said in a statement, adding, “We recognize that this involves a tragic case.”
.........
end snips
Too busy with the Polanco homicide.
I don’t understand why a woman is held liable for damage done by her adult son. If he were a minor, I’d get it.
In a made-for-movie twist, on the day of Robinson’s funeral, cops broke down the door of the family’s apartment — and later acknowledged they had executed a search warrant at the wrong location.
Didn’t the old Soviets charge the families for the cost of the bullet used to execute their family members?
Unreal.