Top 25 Settlements: Portland Police Incidents settled 1993-2005
totalling over $3.5 million

      Name                                                            Amount          Date settled     Incident date    Brief notes
  1. Protestors August 2002 & May 2003              $845,000.00          12/1/04          8/22/02          Use of force (pepper spray)
  2. Family of Damon Lowery                                 $600,000.00          6/25/05          12/5/99          Use of force (leading to death)
  3. Barbara& Ted Vickers, Estate of Dickie Dow   $380,000.00          3/27/02          10/19/98          Wrongful death/Dickie Dow
  4. Bruce Browne                                                    $200,895.00          4/1/03          7/11/01          Shooting (lived)
  5. Eunice Crowder                                                  $145,000.00          4/23/04          6/9/03          Use of force (including Taser)
  6. Maria-Janeth Rodriguez-Sanchez                       $140,000.00          8/3/05          4/8/03          Use of force
  7. Gerald Gratton                                                    $118,000.00          4/4/94          7/19/93          Shooting (lived)
  8. Ivory Spann                                                        $100,056.79          4/7/97          6/6/93          Force/Baton hits
  9. Duane Anthony Shaw                                         $100,000.00          10/25/95          9/14/93          Shooting (died)
  10. Johnny Senteno                                                   $96,975.23          12/30/94          8/21/93          Use of force/Arm broken by projectile
  11. Janice M Aichele (deceased)                                 $90,000.00          11/7/96          10/6/94          Off-duty shooting (murder/suicide)
  12. Dalebert V Acelar and 3 others                             $87,000.00          6/16/99          10/17/97          Unlawful search/detention
  13. Merrick Bonneau                                                 $80,000.00          12/11/01          9/4/99          Use of force/arrest
  14. Pavel Guzenko                                                     $80,000.00          2/16/01          10/12/99          Use of force/wheelbarrow
  15. Ron Rohman                                                        $64,011.77          5/23/97          11/3/94          Civil rights (Street preacher)
  16. Michael Mitchell                                                 $57,772.25          5/19/99          12/21/95          Unknown
  17. Frenesi Carter & Latoya Edwards                       $54,525.00          5/6/99          5/27/98          Unknown
  18. Heather Bissell                                                    $50,000.00          8/17/05          4/30/03          Use of force/arrest
  19. Craig Rosebraugh                                               $47,500.00          6/13/01          10/15/99          Use of Force/broken arm
  20. Joseph W Markham                                             $43,454.96          7/31/01          4/20/00          Unknown
  21. Isaka Shamsud Din                                               $41,968.00          7/30/97          8/8/93          Use of force/arrest
  22. Jeffrey Davis                                                        $40,411.50          4/16/99          12/3/95          Unlawful arrest
  23. Nena June Williams                                             $40,000.00          2/9/00          5/26/96          Use of force/Dragged up driveway
  24. Fred Nemo & Critical Mass riders                       $39,936.80          10/28/96          10/28/94           Unlawful exclusion
  25. Gerald Bruce                                                         $38,500.00          12/5/96           1/25/94           Use of force/arrest

     Total                                               $3,581,007.30

Sources: Portland Office of Risk Management, Portland City Auditor's Office and various news agencies

This chart should be published regularly by the City to let people know what police misconduct is costing the people of Portland. Sure, they can argue that in cases that were settled out of court they never admitted wrongdoing, but if they felt they had a sure chance to win, they'd defend their officers. The $3.6 million total for just these 25 cases does not include another $1 million paid out to another 150 people from 1993-2003. With an average of at least $350,000 per year, the City could be paying for several civilian investigators to staff an independent police review board. Perhaps with ongoing external monitoring, the frequency of such cases would decline. Note that five of the top 18 payments in the last 13 years were made between April, 2004 and August, 2005 (see PPR #36).


Posted October 15, 2005, updated December 22, 2005 and May 9, 2006

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