I constantly read about huge payouts to citizens who have been harmed by police, or to the families of those who have been killed. "The police admitted no wrongdoing, but a civil suit was settled out of court" is the typical line- we've heard it a hundred times. I was thinking back some years to a big insurance company and a elite university who, it was found, established their financial foundation by investing in the slave trade. The public outrage that ensued forced those institutions to make, publicly, changes to their policies, and make apologies. So...who insures police departments? A cop in Minneapolis runs a red light and kills a motorist...a cop beats a mentally ill woman in LA half to death...all the murders of black kids... If I were young and net-sophisticated I'd make a website for the purpose of identifying and pressuring the giant insurance companies that make it possible for cities to stay solvent when their employees commit crimes. I don't even know how twitter works, though. Anyone think this is a good idea? Anyone want to make suggestions about how workable it could be? Public pressure worked when we shamed the companies that traded with apartheid South Africa, after all. Any conversation welcome!
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