So for January we have selected the case of Philippe Holland, who was an innocent man shot by Philadelphia police.
According to news reports, here is what happened: Holland was a college student who worked part-time delivering take-out food. Two years ago, he was delivering a cheeseburger to a house when two officers in plain clothes responded to the area because of a report about gunshots. Holland says he thought he was about to get robbed because the officers approached him without identifying themselves. Frightened, Holland jumped in his car and tried to drive away quickly. The police officers opened fire and Holland now has a permanent seizure disorder and has bullet fragments in his brain.
Last month, the city agreed to pay $4.4 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Holland, reportedly the largest settlement for a police shooting in the city’s history.
The officers involved in the shooting–Kevin Hanvey and Mitchell Farrell– claim that they feared for their lives and thus had to shoot. They were not prosecuted. Even after the passage of two years the department says their discipline is yet “to be determined.” Hmm.