The Kansas City Police Department agreed to a settlement of $900,000 to a Black man who was arrested and jailed for three weeks as a teenager for a crime he didn't commit, KCUR reports.
Tyree Bell's family filed a federal lawsuit in 2017 against the Kansas City Police Department and is awaiting a federal judge to approve and sign the agreement.
On June 8, 2016, Bell, then 15, walked home after visiting a relative's house when officers Peter Neukrich and Jonathan Munyan stopped and questioned him. The officers had received a call that three Black males were playing with guns, and when they arrived on the scene, one of the men allegedly ran away.
However, Bell was taller than the suspect and his hair and clothes did not match the description. Yet, Bell was arrested and detained for 24 hours, and then jailed for three weeks.
Bell's attorney, Arthur Benson, said his client's arrest represents a deeper issue than "walking while Black."
"It was a part of a national disgrace that has been allowed to persist among white police for 40 years: cross-race identifications of Black males by white officers are often wrong," Benson said, according to KCUR.
"And they are often wrong because too many police departments do not train their officers that all Blacks do not look alike and how to make an eyewitness identification that is not tainted by racial stereotypes. Tyree Bell was a victim of the Kansas City Police Department's failure to address this national outrage," Benson continued.
Kansas City Police Department spokesman Sgt. Jake Becchina emailed a statement to KCUR that the department "always sought a successful resolution for all parties."
"Regarding the settlement of the lawsuit in this matter, the Board of Police Commissioners have agreed to a settlement amount of $900,000 made payable to Mr. Bell and his attorney Arthur Benson representing $458,000 for attorney’s fees and costs and $442,000 for compensatory damages," Becchina said. "We are glad we reached a mutual resolution and we wish Mr. Bell and his family all the best."
Bell initially sued Neukrich, Munyan, the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners and then-Kansas City Police Chief Darryl Forte, but his case was dismissed because the officers were protected under qualified immunity, U.S. News reports.
Qualified immunity shields "a government official from lawsuits alleging that the official violated a plaintiff's rights, only allowing suits where officials violated a 'clearly established' statutory or constitutional right," according to Cornell Law School.
In Oct. 2020, a federal appellate court restored the case against the officers citing that they did not have probable cause to arrest Bell. The trial for the case was held in October but ended in a mistrial. Bell's case was again set for court on Feb. 28, but that was canceled when the police department agreed to a settlement and notified the court.
