How do we know that these people are not staging these incidents, getting a fat settlement, then paying each other off?
Think about it. You never hear the name of the civilian who files the complaint and gets paid off ever again, and the cop who does this 99% of the time keeps his job.
Who gets screwed...the taxpayer..what else is new?
When you hear hoofbeats, think "horses," not "zebras." In other words, "give me a flippin' break, man."
The last time I heard of anyone getting a settlement from police abuse of authority was in an open-carry harassment case in Virginia, and it was only $20,000, which probably didn't even cover the legal expenses.
And if you don't want taxpayers to get screwed, insure that your local police don't screw the taxpayers.