23rd Mar 2025
Police Lawsuits - Constitutional Audits, Accountability, The Cost of Misconduct Ep-4
REAL TALK-#4
Title: South Carolina’s Policing Lawsuit Problem
Policing Under the Lens - Constitutional Audits, Accountability, and Improvement
Welcome back to Real Talk – Behind the Badge, this is our fourth podcast and where we dig into the gritty realities of law enforcement, civil rights, and public trust. Today, we’re going to talk about the “Problems of Policing Lawsuits—the Constitutional Audits, Accountability, and how to make Improvements”.We’ll unpack what’s happening, why it matters, and what it’s costing—literally and figuratively. Let’s get started.
I’m Tim, your host, a retired police sergeant with years on the beat, and lately, I’ve been diving deep into a phenomenon that’s reshaping how we view policing: First, Second, and Fourth Amendment audits. I’ve watched hundreds—maybe close to a thousand—of these videos on YouTube and Facebook, and as someone who wore the badge, I’m stunned. Some officers uphold the law with professionalism; others violate citizens’ rights without a second thought.
(The Audit Explosion: What I’ve Seen)
These “audit” videos feature self-styled journalists—armed with cameras and a working knowledge of their rights—testing police and business owners’ responses in public spaces. It’s interesting how many businesses believed they own the public sidewalks or the public right-of-ways in front of their business. What I find even more interesting is the number of police who believe the owners, with no evidence of ownership, no matter how absurd it is. The number of police that take an owners word as gospel without investigating is breath-taking!
What I’ve witnessed ranges from inspiring to infuriating. Hundreds of clips show officers outright trampling on constitutional protections with illegal detentions, unlawful searches and demands for ID without cause. Some seem to act out of habit, trained to push boundaries. Others display ignorance of the law or departmental policies. And then there’s the arrogance—officers who act like dictators, unmoved even when citizens threaten lawsuits or complaints. Why don’t they care? Why is that and what does that tell us? That’s a question we’ll circle back to.
But it’s not all bad. Plenty of officers shine in these videos—calm, knowledgeable, respecting boundaries, respecting the law. They de-escalate, even when auditors provoke them with foul language or baiting tactics. These are the professionals I admire. Yet, one thing nags at me: when a fellow officer crosses the line, most other officers don’t intervene. Junior officers, especially, stay silent, unaware they too could face the “bystander liability law”—a legal doctrine holding them accountable for not stopping a colleague’s misconduct. That’s a ticking time bomb that is sure to go off one day with a future court decision.
(The Auditors: Provocateurs or Protectors?)
Who are these auditors? Some are agitators, itching for a reaction they can sue over—and many have. Court settlements in the tens or hundreds of thousands aren’t uncommon; a few even make a living at it, with lawyers on speed dial. Take James Freeman, a prominent auditor—his videos rack up millions of views, and he’s won payouts exposing rights violations. But others are altruistic. They aim to spotlight good cops, expose the clueless ones, and debunk “laws” officers invent on the spot—like banning filming in public, which the Supreme Court has upheld as a First Amendment right since Glik v. Cunniffe (2011).
I’m not here to defend the troublemakers today—they’re a topic for another episode. My focus is the law-abiding citizen, causing no harm, caught in the crosshairs: illegally detained, searched, or roughed up by overreaching officers. These encounters spark lawsuits and the numbers are staggering and getting larger every single year.
(The Cost of Misconduct: South Carolina’s FY 2024)
Let’s talk money. Because I live in SC, I dug into data from the state’s Insurance Reserve Fund, for Fiscal Year 2024, which covers claims against public entities like police, fire, Emt’s, schools, public works, etc. In just the first FY quarter—July to September 2023— payouts for law enforcement ONLY, hit $9.2 million dollars. That’s a lot of money! Extrapolating that for the year, we’re looking at $35-40 million dollars. It’s very time-consuming researching each quarter as each quarter report is approximately a hundred pages long containing over 2,000 claims.
Here’s the law enforcement breakdown for FY – 1st Qtr 2024:
- False Arrests: 14 claims, $415,200
- Brutality: $1.074 million
- Civil Rights Violations: $2.02 million
- Cruel & Unusual Punishment: $1.34 million
- Due Process Violations: $506,000
- Failure to Provide Medical Care: $2 million
- Negligent Supervision: $1.04 million
- Miscellaneous (e.g., shootings, sexual assault): $827,200
False arrests alone tell a story. The 2nd Qtr of 2024 saw 15 claims for $1.1 million; the 3rd Qtr, 16 for $1.3 million; The 4th Qtr, 24 for $1 million.
Total for the year pay outs just for false arrests? $3.9 million dollars. Why are there so many false arrests? What is causing this?
How many of these lawsuits and payouts have you heard about in your city or state? Most probably, none. Many departments and government entities don’t seem to pay too much attention to lawsuits that result in payouts unless it causes bad publicity; they figure that’s what they pay insurance for. In addition, most of these lawsuits had been filed 3-9 years before any of the payouts, and 3-9 years later they are all but forgotten about by the press. But even when cases get dismissed or abandoned, defense legal fees pile up, courtesy of the taxpayers. Taking into consideration several of these lawsuits were dismissed or abandoned, the state, through the Insurance Reserve Fund still had to pay attorney fees to defend them, and we’ll talk more about that later in our next podcast.
And that’s just South Carolina. Nationally, cities like New York and Chicago shell out hundreds of millions annually—
In New York---$500 million was paid out from 2018-2023 (Legal Aid Society, 2024, via The New York Times)
---Over $1 billion was paid out from 2006-2014 (New York Daily News via Wikipedia, factoring in officers sued repeatedly).
A Washington Post analysis (2022) noted that between 2010 and 2020, over 5,000 NYPD officers were named in multiple claims, accounting for 45% of misconduct payouts, hinting at a massive cumulative total.
NYC Comptroller reports and articles (e.g., Gothamist, The Intercept) show significant yearly payouts: $175.9 million in FY 2019 (ABC News), $121 million in 2022 (abc7ny.com), and $206 million in 2024 (The New York Times).
So, SC isn’t alone in multi-million dollar payouts and I’m sure other most other major cities and states reflect the same.
The Violations: A Dirty Fifteen
What’s driving these SC FY 2024 payouts? I’ve compiled a list of 16 recurring violations from the audits—patterns that fuel lawsuits and drain budgets:
1.Unlawful ID Demands: No crime, no reasonable suspicion? You can’t demand ID in most states without suspicion of a crime.(Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District, 2004, sets limits).
2.Illegal Searches: Digging into pockets for ID or anything else without an arrest—this is not a weapons pat-down which violates the Fourth Amendment (Terry v. Ohio, 1968).
3.Unlawful Detention: No possible crime articulated, no justification (Rodriguez v. United States, 2015).
4.Excessive Detention Length: The Supreme Court caps it—20-30 minutes max without probable cause or articulable suspicion of a crime.
5.Handcuffing as Intimidation: You can’t handcuff without an arrest or an articulable threat? That’s abuse.
6.Falsely Quoting Law: Making up statutes to scare or intimidate people.
7.Detention as an Intimidation Tactic: Holding someone to “teach them a lesson” will come back on the department and the officer sooner or later.”
8.Ordering Filming Stopped on public property: First Amendment says it’s legal, ordering to stop is unconstitutional.
9.Refusing Name/Badge Number: This is a Policy violation in most departments.
10. Illegal Orders: Commands with no legal basis.
11. Excessive Force: Force that is Beyond what’s necessary (Graham v. Connor, 1989).
12. Soliciting Trespass: Pressuring businesses to ban someone the police might have a gripe against.
13. Battery: Unlawful touching or pushing.
14. Intimidation Tactics: Nose-to-nose confrontations, such as walking up to person, nose-to-nose, instructing them to back up.)
15. False Arrest: No probable cause, no arrest. This is a huge liability.
Lawsuits often bundle multiple violations— Usually, a combination of two or three or more of the above items that amplifies damages.
Why Don’t Officers Care?
Back to that question: Why aren’t officers fazed by lawsuit threats? It’s simple—they very rarely pay. Taxpayers foot the bill via insurance or municipal funds. Departments treat insurance premiums like the cost of doing business, and individual officers face discipline in only 1-2% of misconduct cases, (per a 2021 Police Quarterly study.) Qualified immunity shields them from personal liability unless violations are “clearly established”—a high bar. When there’s no skin in the game, there’s no deterrence.
Then vs. Now: The Cell Phone Revolution
Pre-smartphone, complaints were he-said, she-said—no proof, no traction. Today, body cams and citizen videos flood the internet—thousands of clips showing harassment, false arrests, and intimidation. It’s flipped policing on its head. In 1991, Rodney King’s beating was a rare, caught-on-tape scandal. Now, it’s daily on X and YouTube. Auditors amplify this, demanding accountability where departments won’t or don’t.
The Public’s Plight
Imagine this: You’re detained against your will, searched, cuffed, humiliated in front of your family or friends, and then released—all illegally. You protest, but resisting risks arrest or worse (Utah v. Strieff, 2016, limits resistance rights). Your recourse? There is basically nothing you can do at the time of the incident but vocally protest and file a lawsuit later. It’s costly, slow, and even if you win, the officer usually walks free while taxpayers pay. That’s the rub to many of the public—justice feels out of reach to citizens who are victims of illegal enforcement.
The Call for Improvement
This is why many of the public is calling for reform. The public’s waking up—learning their rights, watching audits, demanding transparency. Officers are paid to know the law, yet too many don’t. A 2023 Cato Institute poll found 63% of Americans want better police training; 58% support independent oversight. Auditors, love ‘em or hate ‘em, are forcing the issue—highlighting good cops, exposing bad ones, and pushing for change.
Solutions: A Path Forward
So, what’s the fix? We need to have some common sense solutions. I’m going to throw out 5 ideas that I think will make a dent in all the lawsuits and complaints:
1.We Need a Complete Training Overhaul: Mandate longer and more thorough academies, constitutional law courses, updated laws & court decisions, and make additional training yearly, not just as a rookie at the academy. Make passing grades on law at least 90%, not 60 or 70%.
2.We Need Promotional Training: Any officer promoted to a higher rank should have training for that rank that includes not only the duties but the responsibility for that rank. Too many departments just promote without any training for the rank given. This basically is a path to failure.
3.We Should Have Independent Oversight: South Carolina has got oversight boards for lawyers, judges, nurses and teachers, as I’m sure every state does—why not police officers? A Police Standards Commission in every state could investigate, discipline, and decertify if necessary, free of any department bias for serious complaints or lawsuits.
4.We Need Personal Accountability: For certain violations the Standards Commission should be able to fine officers for repeat offenses, it doesn’t have to be a lot to make a statement and watch behavior shift.
5.We Need Body Cam Enforcement: Make this mandatory for ALL officers and let any complainants have access to the files they need to back up their complaint. (of course with redactions for sensitive files).
Closing Thoughts
Policing’s at a crossroads. Good officers deserve support; bad ones, consequences. The millions in payouts—$3.9 million dollars for false arrests alone in South Carolina—about 35 million dollars for all law enforcement. This screams for a change. Taxpayers shouldn’t bankroll ignorance or arrogance. Auditors are a symptom, not the disease. The cure? Education, accountability, transparency and reform. Until then, the camera’s rolling—and the bill is growing.
Thanks for listening. Next time, we’ll tackle who’s making all the money on law enforcement lawsuits and why along with how we can drastically reduce those payouts easily. Hit subscribe, share your thoughts, and let’s keep this conversation going.
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This is Real Talk. Signing off until next time.
Thank you and be careful out there!