By Burt Mummolo, Fox23 News
“A case like this probably could have gone away for 10% of what the city is going to end up paying, ten percent,” said attorney Mitchell Garrett.
It has happened again, city of Tulsa taxpayers footing the bill for bad behavior at TPD and getting nothing in return.
“I’m a Tulsa county taxpayer too, so it gives me concern anytime I know my tax dollars are going to things they shouldn’t have to go to,” he said.
Attorney Garrett represented Tracie Lewis in her employment discrimination case against TPD and won, costing the city roughly $850,000.
“Good afternoon and welcome to the public works committee meeting,” said Tulsa city councilor Jackie Dutton at a city council Public Works Committee meeting on June 10th.
“Any questions comments? No, Phil?,” said Councilor Dutton. “Oh what the guess is? Yeah. I don’t know $74.68 million dollars,” said Councilor Lakin.
“What has procedurally changed either at city legal or at TPD, and I don’t know the answer to that, but I’m going to tell you, I don’t think it’s a lot,” said Garrett.
“We reached out to every city councilor and to TPD asking for any changes that they’re aware of policy wise, if any officers were disciplined or anything of that nature, crickets,” said News Channel 8’s Burt Mummolo.
“To my knowledge, nothing’s changed within the police department, and nothing’s changed within city legal,” said Garrett.
If this story sounds familiar…
“I don’t think they never going to learn,” said Henry Jamerson from a previous story.
That’s because we asked the same questions about reform and repercussions following the staggering $26 million settlement in Jamerson’s wrongful conviction case against the city.
“It was the largest settlement in the city’s history, and I believe it’s the largest settlement for any wrongful conviction case that exists in the country historically,” said Attorney Dan Smolen.
Likewise, when we asked about accountability the city could point to nothing, and Jamerson’s lawyer wasn’t aware of any reforms either.
“Do we know at this point if any kind of repercussions against anybody within TPD took place because of what happened?” asked Mummolo. “No, we don’t know if there were any repercussions,” said Smolen.
As Yogi Berra said, it’s deja vu all over again. And by the way, Attorney Garrett still has more legal fees he’s seeking from the city.
“Which will end up costing the city more money,” he said.
Statement from the city of Tulsa;
“The City takes these matters seriously and remains committed to accountability, transparency, and responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars. The creation of the Public Safety Commissioner role has allowed the City to provide enhanced oversight across public safety functions and helps ensure the City continues to evaluate practices, identify opportunities for improvement, and strengthen public trust as we work toward becoming the safest big city in the country.”
