Lawsuit Against Police Department: The Rules, the Hurdles and the 2026 Cases
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A lawsuit against police department conduct almost always runs through one federal statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The city pays only if its own policy or custom caused the harm, and individual officers can claim qualified immunity. The case in the news right now is a class settlement: on September 30, 2026 a federal judge preliminarily approved $1.5 million for drivers ticketed and towed by Brookside, Alabama police. Notices are due within 75 days of the Sept. 30 order.
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Reviewed by Leonard Goldberg, Editor · Last updated
What a Lawsuit Against a Police Department Claims
Most suits are filed under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. It makes anyone acting “under color of” state law liable to the person whose constitutional rights they violate. Typical claims are excessive force, false arrest, unlawful stops and searches, and fees or fines imposed without due process.
Excessive-force claims during an arrest or stop are judged under the Fourth Amendment’s objective reasonableness standard, seen from the position of a reasonable officer on the scene (Graham v. Connor).
A class action lawsuit against police department practices is less common. It works when one policy hurt many people the same way: stop-and-frisk in New York, or towing and ticketing for revenue in Brookside, Alabama. The Brookside lawsuit alleges that the town and its towing company impounded cars for profit, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.
Case Details
Suing the city or county. Under Monell v. Department of Social Services, a local government can be sued directly under § 1983, but only when an official policy or a settled custom caused the violation. It cannot be held liable just because it employs the officer.
Suing the officer. Officers can raise qualified immunity. Under Pearson v. Callahan, it applies unless the conduct violated a right that was “clearly established” at the time.
What the Justice Department can do. 34 U.S.C. § 12601 lets the Attorney General sue a department over a “pattern or practice” of unconstitutional policing. The DOJ says that law gives victims no individual money and no right to sue on their own. The criminal statutes (18 U.S.C. §§ 241, 242) also give no private lawsuit.
The current class case. Coleman v. Town of Brookside, No. 2:22-cv-00423-AMM, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, before Judge Anna M. Manasco.
Status: Brookside Settlement Preliminarily Approved, Notices Pending
Other police cases on our site:
— West Virginia State Police Academy: on September 16, 2026, a Kanawha County judge gave final approval to a $9.1 million mandatory class settlement. Some former junior troopers got 45 more days to file. Details are on our West Virginia settlement page.
— Los Angeles agreed to pay $5.8 million to settle one family’s civil rights suit over an LAPD shooting. It has no class and no claim form. See our LAPD settlement report.
Federal oversight is shrinking. On May 21, 2025, the DOJ asked courts to dismiss the Minneapolis and Louisville consent decrees. It also closed investigations into Phoenix, Memphis and other departments.
Who Can Sue, and Who Is in the Brookside Class
Individual claims. Anyone whose own constitutional rights were violated by an officer acting under state law can bring a § 1983 suit, citizen or not. Family members typically sue after a death. The deadline is your state’s personal-injury limitations period (Wallace v. Kato), which you can check in our statute of limitations by state table. The clock usually starts at the incident, and some states add an earlier step. California, for example, requires a written government claim first, due within months.
Brookside towing class. People who paid fees to Brookside or a towing company to get back a vehicle towed on Brookside Police orders after a traffic stop, from March 1, 2018 to August 1, 2022. That is about 1,700 people.
Brookside charging class. People charged in Brookside Municipal Court after a police traffic stop in the same period. That is about 5,500 people.
Payment is not automatic. The administrator will use the town’s records to find class members and mail notices.
What These Cases Pay
Individual cases follow no schedule. They are negotiated or decided one at a time. Los Angeles paid $286,345,711 in liability claims in fiscal year 2025, and $152 million of that came from LAPD cases. In 2026, juries returned an $11.8 million excessive-force verdict and an $11 million verdict against the LAPD. Verdicts can still be challenged.
DOJ cases pay victims nothing directly. A pattern-or-practice case produces court-ordered reforms, not checks. To estimate a share once a settlement opens, use the payout calculator.
How cases like this one end
Our copy of the federal courts’ own case database covers 182,728 other civil rights casesclosed in U.S. federal district courts between 2015 and 2026, 1.2% of them filed as class actions:
- 19% ended in a settlement recorded by the court. Another 9.1% were dismissed voluntarily, which often follows a private settlement — so the real settlement share sits between 19% and 28.1%.
- 15.1% were decided on a motion before any trial.
- 1 in 63 reached a trial (1.6%), after a median of 31.2 months.
- Median time from filing to the end of the case: 7 months.
- Only 1,316 of them (0.7%) record a money award at all; the median of those is $248,500.
These are base rates for this type of case (federal other civil rights cases) — not a prediction about this lawsuit, and not legal advice. Source: Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (civil), analysed by Settlement Insight. Cases heard in state courts are not included.
Police Department Lawsuits: Key Dates
- 1
August 12, 2013 — Stop-and-Frisk Ruling
In the class action Floyd v. City of New York, Judge Shira Scheindlin finds NYPD stop-and-frisk practices violated civil rights and orders an independent monitor.
- 2
2022 — Brookside Drivers Sue
Drivers file Coleman v. Town of Brookside (2:22-cv-00423) in the Northern District of Alabama, alleging the town ticketed and towed for revenue.
- 3
May 21, 2025 — DOJ Drops Consent Decrees
The Justice Department asks courts to dismiss the Minneapolis and Louisville consent decrees and closes investigations into Phoenix, Trenton, Memphis, Mount Vernon, Oklahoma City and the Louisiana State Police.
- 4
September 16, 2026 — West Virginia $9.1 Million Approved
A Kanawha County judge gives final approval to the State Police Academy hidden-camera settlement as a mandatory class.
- 5
September 30, 2026 — Brookside Preliminary Approval
Judge Anna M. Manasco preliminarily approves the $1.5 million class settlement and its 30-year limits on revenue from policing.
- 6
August 12, 2027 — Brookside Final Hearing (Scheduled)
The court is scheduled to decide whether to give the Brookside settlement final approval, at the Hugo L. Black U.S. Courthouse in Birmingham.
Three Things to Watch For
Police settlements in the news draw imitators. Here is what fakes look like in these cases:
“Claim your Brookside towing refund” messages
Angeion Group finds class members from Brookside’s own towing and court records and sends notice. A legitimate notice never asks for a fee. A message asking you to pay to “release” your share is fake.
“Verify for your LAPD settlement payment”
The $5.8 million Los Angeles settlement went to one family that sued. It has no class, no administrator and no public claim form. Anyone offering you a share is not connected to the case.
“Join the class action against your police department” forms
No sign-up form puts you in a class. You are included if you fit the definition. Ads collecting incident details and Social Security numbers are lead-generation forms, not court filings. Reporting misconduct to the DOJ at civilrights.justice.gov is free.
Lawsuit Against Police Department — Questions People Actually Ask
Can you file a lawsuit against a police department?
Yes. Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 you can sue the officers and the city or county that runs the department. The city is liable only if its official policy or custom caused the violation (Monell). Many suits name the officers and the city together.
Why is it so hard to sue the police department?
There are three main hurdles. First, the city does not answer for an officer’s act just because it employs the officer; you must tie the harm to a policy or custom. Second, officers can claim qualified immunity unless the right was “clearly established.” Third, force is judged by what a reasonable officer on the scene would have done.
How to take action against a police officer?
For possible crimes, the DOJ says to contact the FBI or your U.S. Attorney’s Office. For department-wide patterns, file at civilrights.justice.gov. Neither route gets you money. The DOJ does not act as your lawyer, so getting compensation means your own civil suit.
Is there a class action lawsuit against police department practices I can join now?
As of October 11, 2026, the pending one in the news is Brookside, Alabama, for drivers towed or charged after traffic stops between March 1, 2018 and August 1, 2022. Notices are due within 75 days of the September 30, 2026 order. In West Virginia, some former junior troopers have an extended claim window, about October 31, 2026 by our count.
How long do I have to sue the police?
A § 1983 claim uses your state’s personal-injury limitations period. For a false arrest, the clock generally starts at the arrest itself. In Wallace v. Kato, waiting for a conviction to be set aside made a Chicago suit too late. Some states, such as California, require a government claim within months before you can sue.
Can the Justice Department sue the police for me?
Not for you personally. Under 34 U.S.C. § 12601, only the DOJ can sue over a pattern or practice, and the remedy is court-ordered reform, not individual money. A single incident does not qualify. Since May 21, 2025, the DOJ has also pulled back from several such cases.
If the officer is criminally charged, do I get money?
No. The federal criminal civil rights laws (18 U.S.C. §§ 241, 242) are punished by fines and prison, and the DOJ says they give no private right to sue. Compensation comes only through a civil claim. The burden there is lower: a preponderance of the evidence, not proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
How much do lawsuits against police departments pay?
It varies widely. Brookside class members are estimated to get roughly $91 to $2,353 each. Individual cases can reach millions: in 2026, Los Angeles juries returned $11.8 million and $11 million verdicts, and the city settled one shooting case for $5.8 million. No schedule exists, and past results do not predict any other claim.
Separate from this case: were you injured in the last 2 years?
Class-action payouts are fixed amounts through an administrator. A personal injury claim is a different case — and often worth far more. Free estimate, no obligation.
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