In 2012, Dana Cardile says she was at her then-boyfriend's house in Yonkers, N.Y. They were arguing, and he called the police. Officers told Cardile to show them her driver's license. She alleged in a lawsuit that on the way to retrieve her license from her car, she was violently assaulted by four male officers: pushed to the ground, kicked, grabbed by her throat and lifted to her feet, and repeatedly thrown against the trunk of her car. Cardile claimed that what happened was unprovoked. he was treated for a fractured hand and injuries to her arm and shoulder. In a federal civil rights lawsuit, Cardile alleged that the officers used unreasonable and excessive force. The city denied wrongdoing but settled for $50,000, NPR reports.
Yonkers is a small city just north of New York City. Yonkers is 19 percent Black and 40 percent Latino. The police force of about 600 officers is nearly 75 percent. Payouts for alleged police misconduct between 2007 and 2020 occurred as the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating the Yonkers Police Department and recommending areas for reform. The number of incidents that resulted in a payout fluctuated: They peaked at 17 in 2012, dropped to a low of two in 2016, and bumped back up to eight in 2018. There were at least 102 lawsuits that alleged misconduct that resulted in either a settlement or a jury verdict.