by Glenn Tschimpke
Staff Writer
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, which is sworn to protect the citizens of Duval County, carries the lofty charge of adhering to a higher standard than the citizens it serves. Either on foot, in the patrol car or behind the desk, they are expected to unwaveringly make the right choice in every decision made.
Yet the men and women in blue are as fallible as anyone else. Accidents happen, corruption occurs, poor decisions are made — all usually at the expense of the citizens they are charged to protect. When citizens feel they’ve been wrong, they take it to court.
Last year, the City settled 23 disputes against the JSO and paid more than $760,000 in damages, though many of the cases originated from complaints years earlier. 2001 was an average year by estimates, and the damages paid are comparable to other cities like Tampa, which paid $566,950 in 2001 for claims against its police department.
But the costs of defending the JSO don’t stop with damage awards. As part of the City’s risk management strategy, defending cases against the JSO often consume a significant chunk of the General Counsel Office’s annual budget.
“Thirty-six percent of the total work for risk management was the Sheriff’s Office,” said John Jolly, chief of tort litigation for the City, regarding fiscal year 2001. “That includes not only property torts and personal injury torts, but also lawsuits on behalf of the Sheriff’s Office to recover cost damages the Sheriff’s Office has suffered.”
While the JSO does take court action to recoup losses caused by private citizens, such as collisions with police cars, Jolly said the vast majority of the time spent defending the Sheriff’s Office involves citizens seeking compensation from the City. At any one time, the City may have 200 court cases pending against it. On Sept. 30, there were 214 cases outstanding against the City. Nearly half of them, 101, involved the JSO.
Last fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, the General Counsel’s office billed 4,156.9 hours working on matters on behalf of the JSO, amounting to $378,000.
“The City’s risk management division paid the office of General Counsel last fiscal year $1,050,000 for legal services,” said Jolly. “For that, we represent not only the Sheriff’s Office, but the housing authority, the port authority and JEA. We also represent all departments and divisions in the City that are also part of the risk management fund.”
Most cases against the Sheriff’s Office never make it to trial. Instead they are handled other ways.
“I would say that better than 95 percent of all matters involving the Sheriff’s Office are handled pretrial,” said Jolly. “Number one, we have a very good adjusting firm that tries to handle these matters up front. Second, mediation has resulted in most cases being settled before trial.”
The City contracts with private claims adjuster Scibal Associates, which tries to resolve claims before they go to trial.
“If Scibal cannot resolve the claims that aren’t dropped, then they file suit and that’s when [the General Counsel’s] office becomes involved.”
Claims against the City involving the JSO cover a wide variety of circumstances:
• On Oct. 28, 1998, Harold Moore’s vehicle was struck by patrol car driven by a JSO Officer. Moore claimed the officer ran a stop sign, resulting in a litany of ailments suffered by Moore, including bodily injury, pain, suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish, loss of capacity to enjoy life, expense of hospitalization, loss of earnings, loss of ability to earn money in the future and aggravation of a previously existing condition. Moore was eventually awarded $103, 678.
• The previous year, Mohammad Soleymani had a dispute with an auto mechanic, which escalated to a fist fight in which the owner of the shop knocked out three of his teeth. Soleymani’s son witnessed the incident and called the police as well as his mother, Sororazam Soleymani, who rushed to the scene. When Sororazam arrived, she didn’t like the way the officer handled the situation. One thing led to another and she was arrested. During the arrest, she claimed she injured her knee and suffered multiple bruises. Afterward, she charged for those injuries, psychological impairment, chest pains, shortness of breath and loss of income. Doctors determined her knee to be permanently damaged and back problems ensued as a result of her altered gait. Soleymani received $154,217 from the City.
• One of the most notorious lawsuits against the JSO came from the death of Lateef Faroque Abdullah. In 1998, the 49-year-old died after an officer applied a “lateral vascular neck restraint” to subdue the mentally unstable man. He never regained consciousness and later died. The family hired attorney Johnnie Cochran, famous for his defense of O.J. Simpson. The case was settled out of court, with the family receiving $202,411 in damages.
While many cases are legitimate, it is difficult to determine how many cases are brought against the City because of its ability to pay damages.
“If someone [private individual] with minimal coverage runs a red light, they may have personal injury protection [insurance] and that’s about it,” said Jolly. “If a City driver runs a red light, potentially there is a deep pocket there. So you get some of that.”