Stockton, CA

The Stockton Police Department (SPD) has paid $15.2 million in documented police misconduct settlements from 2018 to 2024. The dataset is driven by three high-profile cases that collectively account for the entire tracked total, reflecting a department with a concentrated liability profile and a pattern of fatal force incidents.

The most recent anchor case is the death of Shayne Sutherland, a 33-year-old man who died in 2020 after Stockton Police officers held him facedown for nearly eight minutes. Sutherland, who was experiencing a mental health crisis, was pinned to the ground by Officers Ronald Zalunardo and John Afanasiev. The city settled the wrongful death lawsuit for $6 million in 2024. The case drew comparisons to the death of George Floyd and prompted renewed scrutiny of SPD's use-of-force and mental health response protocols.

The second anchor case is the 2018 settlement with the family of Misty Holt-Singh, a 41-year-old woman taken hostage during a bank robbery in 2014. Holt-Singh was killed by police gunfire - not by the robbers - during a pursuit and shootout. The $5.75 million settlement resolved claims that officers fired indiscriminately without regard for the hostage's safety.

The third anchor case is the 2021 settlement with the family of Colby Friday, a 26-year-old unarmed Black man shot in the back and killed by Officer David Wells in 2016. Wells shot Friday during a foot pursuit; Friday was unarmed and running away. The city settled for $3.25 million. Wells was described in court filings as a 'creepy cop' with prior disciplinary history.

For insurance underwriters, the Stockton dataset illustrates a department where three officers account for the entirety of documented named exposure, and where the incidents span distinct categories of liability: restraint death, hostage rescue gone wrong, and fleeing suspect shooting. Each category carries different underwriting implications and requires separate actuarial treatment.