Posted on 03/18/2011 5:43:17 PM PDT by marktwain
Loveland police have agreed to pay $15,000 to a man who claimed his rights were violated in 2008 when officers temporarily took away the handgun he was carrying on his hip.
Police also will beef up training of officers on the constitutional rights to bear arms and against unreasonable search and seizure.
Loveland resident Bill Miller, 72, filed suit in July 2010 in U.S. District Court in Denver alleging police violated his constitutional rights when they questioned him, seized his gun and emptied it of ammunition when he was on the south shore of Lake Loveland in October 2008.
Miller and police settled the suit Feb. 25 and announced the settlement Wednesday. The case drew national attention, especially among gun rights advocates, during the years following the incident.
Miller’s federal lawsuit asked for $100,000 for alleged rights violations and a change in police department policy regarding treatment of citizens openly carrying guns.
Police Chief Luke Hecker said the settlement was in the best interests of Loveland taxpayers, and he restated his belief that his officers acted properly.
“I believe the city would have prevailed in a lawsuit, but it would have cost the taxpayers exponentially more to bring it to that point,” Hecker said.
Economic Decision
Miller’s Denver lawyer, Nelson Boyle, said the settlement was likewise the wisest move for his client because of the uncertainty of the trial’s outcome.
“The problem was the economics of it, from the plaintiff’s side,” Boyle said. “You could easily spend $10,000 to $20,000, on the cheap side, for a case like this. Odds are that a jury is not going to make a substantial award in a case where there was no personal injury.”
But Boyle claimed victory with a stipulation in the settlement that will require Loveland police to undergo training
We did nothing wrong, and will continue to do nothing wrong in the future.
Did the police chief and city DA clearly state they were changing their policy regarding dealing with open carry citizens? If not nothing is fixed and it will happen again with someone else.
The 15k should be paid by the LEOS Union.
Not the taxpayers.
Sue the Union for lowering standards.
The most important part...
This is a guess and obviously could be wrong but I strongly suspect a lot of Cops love walking around with a gun on their hip and just hate the idea of a “civilian” doing the same.
The part they missed in 5th grade.
Citing my own personal experience, LPD has a history and are well known for huge over reactions for little cause. He was lucky he did not have the snot beat out of him for his trouble. I love my home town, I admire cops in general, even wanted to be one at one point. But the Loveland police can go to hell as far as I am concerned, all of them.
I would ask the judge to vacate the settlement and haul that sheriff's butt right back into court for that remark. Those deputies did act improperly and he should have to admit it. Otherwise they can do it again. In which case what was the point of the suit?
I guess as long as you enjoy spending $15000.00 for each time you do nothing wrong.You can continue doing nothing wrong.
Some people smoke OPs, some spend OP$.
That can be arranged:
United States Code, Title 18, U.S. Criminal Code §ection 241
Conspiracy against rights
If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same; or
If two or more persons go in disguise on the highway, or on the premises of another, with intent to prevent or hinder his free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege so secured—
They shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.
BTW: now they can't claim any such actions are *unknowing* and the training will make it clear that such actions were taken in violation of the city's policy- as well as being part of a continuing pattern of criminal activiety, IE racketeering, which under the federal RICO Act can result in triple damages for the plaintiff and 1.5 times the plaintiff's attorney's legal fees, all to be paid by the defendant municipality. Which at the typical $399- $495/Hour fee for a good attorney specializing in such cases, could bankrupt the city right quickly, as well as putting a couple of their public servents behind federal bars for a decade or better.
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