The lawyer for a Sacramento man hurled to the ground and punched repeatedly in the face by a police officer announced his client has settled their Federal Civil Rights lawsuit.
Nandi Cain Jr., settled with the city for $550,000 after it was caught on camera that an officer threw him to the ground and began punching him. Cain was told to stop because he was jaywalking. He didn't and challenged the officer to a fight.
In addition to the monetary settlement, Sacramento agreed to implement several policy changes to their police department.
"The City of Sacramento was very open to implementing policy and training changes, which is an important step in improving community relations with the police department and reducing incidents that result in serious injury and death," Civil Rights Attorney John Burris said.
Mayor Darrell Steinberg's office says the city has reached a settlement with Cain and is waiting for him to return the written agreement with his signature.
Sacramento police have faced intense scrutiny in recent weeks after two officers shot Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old unarmed black man.
The changes the city agreed to implement include:
- Cain’s arrest record for this incident will be expunged.
- Officer Anthony Figueroa will not work as a patrol officer in Del Paso Heights during calendar years 2018 and 2019 and will not seek assignment in the Del Paso Heights area until after he has successfully completed mandatory scenario based Implicit Bias and Procedural Justice training.
- The city will implement mandatory scenario based Procedural Justice & Implicit Bias training for all sworn employees with the Sacramento Police Department.
- The city will implement an audit process for Body Worn Camera footage for SPD patrol officers that includes a comparison of the footage to the corresponding police report to check for accuracy.
- The city will make changes concerning the use of force policy by all sworn SPD employees.
- The city will adopt a program of cultural immersion training for the Police Academy.
- The City will implement a program for tracking and reporting to the public statistics relating to citations issued to citizens for J-walking throughout the City.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.