Truesee's Daily Wonder

The Atlanta City Council is expected to agree pay $20,000 to settle a lawsuit a by a 62-year-old woman who was jailed for asking a police officer “why” she and friends had to move from a sidewalk where they were talking about an upcoming funeral. 

A council committee has already accepted the city attorney's recommendation to settle the case, but the settlement must be approved by the entire city council. Minnie Carey spent almost 10 hours in jail on a charge of disorderly conduct brought by an officer who already had a troubled history with the Atlanta Police Department. 

“It’s resolved,” said Carey's attorney, Robert Ortman. 

APD was named in the suit, and a spokesman for the department said Friday that an internal investigation found officer Brandy Dolson "acted within the parameters of department policies and procedures," which complied with national standards. "Those [national] guidelines are based on a set of proven standards that take into account the difficult situations police officers face every day, and the split-second decisions they must make to protect citizens and reduce their own personal risk,” APD public affairs director Carlos Campos said in an e-mail. 

This is one of two settlements the council is expected to address on Monday that involve incidents with Atlanta police officers. 

If the other proposed settlement is approved, taxpayers will give 22 cab drivers $425,000 to settle a federal lawsuit. The suit says officers confiscated permits and insurance stickers and then immediately cited or arrested the drivers for not having those stickers on their cars. The drivers were targeted because their checks to APD's Division of Taxicabs and Vehicles for Hire were returned; some of those checks were written as long as two years before they were deposited. 

Carey’s suit was filed Feb. 17, claiming Dolson violated her civil rights and falsely imprisoned her. The suit also said the city had not given Dolson training that might have led him to respond differently in his encounter with Carey and her friends on a sidewalk outside a convenience store. 

“People don’t usually complain unless there’s something really wrong,” Carey said. “If you have people complaining about the same person, it’s time the city take a look into their background.” 

Dolson has been suspended without pay for most of this year, but not for the Carey case. APD said it was other, unrelated infractions that led to the disciplinary action. 

Dolson could not be reached for comment Friday but he has previously declined to talk about the matter. 

The suit said APD had received more than 10 complaints against Dolson but had “failed to adequately investigate the claims and deter him from further misconduct.” 

But in the proposed settlement, the city and APD do not admit any wrongdoing. 

Before bring the suit, Carey had filed a complaint with the Citizen Review Board, a panel charged with investigating reports of police misconduct. The board found in favor of Carey last February but interim police Chief George Turner rejected that decision. 

Around 4 p.m. on March 26, 2009, Carey and her friends were on the sidewalk in front of the Boulevard Lotto convenience store, just a few blocks from downtown Atlanta. They had been talking a few minutes about funeral plans for a woman they all knew when Dolson and his partner pulled up. Dolson told the women to “move it.” 

Three women started walking away but Carey didn’t, asking “why” instead. 

Dolson’s answer to Carey was “because I said so,” according to records. 

“I’m a citizen and I’m a taxpayer and I have a right to be here. I’m merely trying to find out about a sister’s funeral,” Carey responded. 

That's when Carey was handcuffed, put in the back of the patrol car and eventually taken to jail on a city ordinance violation charge. 

She was released on her own recognizance around 12:30 a.m. the next day, and the disorderly conduct charge was dismissed several weeks later, at the third court hearing, because Dolson failed to appear. 

“This arrest was in violation of her rights under … the U.S. Constitution,” the suit said. 

The suit also said Carey was subjected to unjustified and excessive force and that she and her friends were targeted because of their race; the police officers also are black. 

“He was a lousy police officer. What else can I say?” Carey said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

LINK TO ORIGINAL STORY 

 http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/woman-61-arrested-for-309285.html