Council Votes to Pay $7 Million in Officer Misconduct Cases : Lawsuits: Included is $5.5 million to a man paralyzed after a shooting and $1.5 million to the family of a victim who died after being subdued with a chokehold.

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved paying $7.1 million to settle a dozen cases of alleged police misconduct and excessive force.

The payments bring the total for settling LAPD litigation this year to more than $13 million, far more than any previous year, city records show.

Included in the payouts is a record $5.5 million to Adelaido Altamirano, a Coliseum groundskeeper who was shot in 1987 by an off-duty officer in a case of mistaken identity, and left paralyzed from the shoulders down.

The council also approved payment of $1.5 million to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit brought by heirs of John Thomas Mincey who died in 1982 after Foothill Division officers administered a chokehold.

The case created a furor and led to new policies on the use of the chokehold. The Mincey case also created a stir when it prompted Police Chief Daryl F. Gates to wonder out loud whether blacks were different from “normal people.”

Other less costly cases that the council agreed to settle Wednesday included $50,000 to a woman bitten by a police dog.

The council unanimously approved the settlements in an effort to avoid possible higher awards if the cases went to court. Altamirano, for instance, won $8.75 million in an initial Superior Court award, but he agreed to the lower settlement amount to avoid costs and risks of an appeal.

While they approved the settlements, council members were clearly concerned about the increasing amount of city funds necessary to pay for police misconduct. Payouts in police lawsuits have climbed from less than $1 million in 1980 to more than $8 million last year, according to city attorney records.

This year, the city has spent more than $13 million to settle lawsuits brought against the LAPD, including the $7.1 million approved by the council on Wednesday, according to a spokesman for the city attorney.

“That’s a lot of money,” said Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, who complained that the funds could be put to much better use by the cash-strapped city. “$5.5 million would have put 170 cops on the street for a year,” he complained.

Gates appeared before council members in a closed session before the vote to answer any questions the members had about the cases. But some council members said there was little the chief could say to alleviate their fears of continuing police misconduct.

“It’s difficult to be satisfied with any explanation when we see these settlements happen with such frequency,” said Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas.

“It’s just incredible,” said Ridley-Thomas. “It speaks to the compelling need to have officers understand the consequences of their actions. . . . It has implications of better training and better management of the department. . . . I think that’s where the major problem is.”

Altamirano, now confined to a wheelchair, said “the payment of the money is one indication the City Council is paying attention to the issue” of police misconduct.

Speaking through his attorney, Samuel Paz, as an interpreter, Altamirano added, “The Christopher Commission changes seem to be helpful and seem to be good and moving in the right direction.”

Paz said Altamirano will use some of the money to “see about further medical treatment to see if he can regain some lower extremity control. He wants to use some of the money to try to walk again.”

Altamirano had said he hoped to use some of the money to move his family out of the gang-plagued neighborhood where he lives.