system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: Police misconduct settlements should be garnished from the offending officer’s salary and pension

I argued this once before, I’ll argue it again. In addition to supporting stripping police of liability protections and enabling them to be directly sued for misconduct, I believe any settlement should be garnished from the offending officer’s salary and pension. I also support taking the settlement out of the police department’s budget. Even if that is financially catastrophic for the cops and their families, and forces the department to lay people off. 

If I fuck up on the job, I lose my job and have to face potential financial consequences. I was rear ended by a commercial vehicle. The guy who hit me probably lost his job and the settlement to come will see a spike in the company’s liability insurance premiums. 

I believe the best way to enact change is to hit cops here it hurts: their pay, healthcare, and family security. So if a lawsuit finds cops guilty of police misconduct, their pension should be frozen and paid out of that. Anything left over should be garnished from the offending officer(s) paycheck. Even if it is financially devastating to them and their families. Everyone else in society has to face the music for their mistakes. Police are not special, and should not only be more vulnerable to getting sued into oblivion, there should be legal standards for how much a garnishment should be, meaning department cannot settle for something low. 

The police have long made this an “us versus the public” issue, so be it. They can pay up, even if it means their family loses their home, goes hungry, or loses medical care. If you fuck up as a cop, I want to not sting, but burn and take a good while to heal.
gpt
We need to recognize that there are difference situations that can occur, that need to be treated differently. The current situation is broken, but removing all protections for the officers involved is a knee-jerk overreaction. What we need to do is ensure those whose rights are violated, or otherwise get injured by law enforcement are properly compensated. We also need to ensure bad cops are held to account, while protecting good cops from vexatious litigation, or being bankrupted for reasonable decisions made in the heat of the moment.

To outline the possible situations:

* Police Officer violates clearly established law and training - In this case, the officer should be personally liable, and the law enforcement agency should be on the hook for liability after the assets of the officer are depleted. This way the officer pays a big financial penalty, but the recovery of the victim isn't limited to what the officer has.

* The next case is where the police agency trained its officers improperly, leading to a violation of clearly established law. In this case, its the agency that should be held accountable.

* Then there is a case where the law wasn't clear, but a court rules that a right was violated, despite an officer acting in good faith. This is currently subject to qualified immunity, which should continue to be the case for officers, but the agency should still be required to compensate the person whose rights were violated. Also, to the extent qualified immunity is retained, it needs to pass a sanity test. There may be no case on point saying an officer can't steal your money during an arrest, there should be no need for one. Not only should there be no immunity, its acting in bad faith, and the officer should be on the hook personally.

* Finally, if someone is injured, or their property is collateral damage as a result of police activity, the agency should be on the hook for compensation. If a criminal set it all in motion, the agency can try to get their money back from the criminal, but should pay up front for the collateral damage.

We need to accept that law enforcement is challenging, and that good officers, acting in good faith, can make mistakes. They shouldn't be crucified for this, but the victims should still be compensated, and the best way to do that is to have the agency cover it.