Cops Pay for Bad Tip

It’s a tough call for a police officer when they get a tip and take action based on the information. There’s often no way to know if the tip is credible or not. And they are charged with investigating anyhow. A settlement in Annapolis underscores what can happen.

Police were tipped that there was “drug activity” in a parked, beige car. When they approached and questioned the occupants, one officer noticed a furtive movement from someone in the back seat. Here the stories diverge. According to the police brutality complaint, officers then hauled the driver, 44 year old Ronald Hall from the car and roughed him up while handcuffing him. That’s what Mr. Hall alleges. Police say he argued and was combative.

The settlement reached with the city paid Mr. Hall $6,500. City Attorney Gary Elson was quoted as saying, “We feel the police officers were not in violation of any police orders or the law.” He said the city settled to avoid the high cost of pursuing the matter in a trial.

On the officer’s side, there were open containers of beer in the car and the passenger was attempting to hide the can he had been drinking from. Another open can was found on the floor of the car. The charges against Mr. Hall for the open container were dropped although that was the reason for his arrest.

There’s really no good solution here. We want citizens to report their suspicions. Many cases are solved when people speak out. And having the eyes and ears of the population at large dramatically expands the ability to effectively enforce the law. The problem is fighting the urge to take a tip as if it were factual. This case never made it to trial, so no jury determined the true facts in the case. Was it really police brutality or an exaggerated claim by an angry man?