Total Injury

The city of Springfield, Massachusetts has come to an $180,000 personal injury settlement with a black school principal who had claimed that he was the victim of police brutality at the hands of five white officers while having a seizure in November 2004. An Associated Press story detailed how Douglas Greer claimed that he was having a diabetic attack inside his car while parked outside of a convenience store when the officers pulled him out of his vehicle. Among his allegations, Greer said the officers kicked and choked him, and accused him of being on drugs. The officers countered that they were trying to hold down Greer as he flailed about and screamed. Greer was eventually taken to the hospital for treatment.

Under this personal injury settlement, neither the city nor any of the five police officers admitted liability. A month after the incident, the Springfield police commission voted to not take any disciplinary action against the five officers, who all remain in the city’s police department. City attorney Edward Pikula called the settlement good for all parties involved in the story and said that the city was glad to move forward from this “unfortunate chapter” in its history.

Perman Glenn III was Greer’s Massachusetts personal injury attorney and described the settlement in the story as being a “step forward” in revealing and preventing police brutality in Springfield. At the time of his personal injuries, Greer was the principal of the Robert M. Hughes Academy Charter School in Springfield. He is currently a principal at another charter school in the city.

This Massachusetts personal injury settlement comes in the wake of severe allegations of police brutality in Chicago. We’ll keep you updated on the latest developments surrounding any other interesting cases involving alleged police brutality injuries.