Strike Force victims win more money

A federal judge in Minneapolis awarded a total of $37,000 on Tuesday to 17 individuals who had confrontations with the scandal-ridden Metro Gang Strike Force, bringing to 110 the number of people who have received compensation in a class-action lawsuit.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen came as part of an appellate process and closes the books on awards in the $3 million settlement of a suit that was filed after a series of revelations in 2009 that the now disbanded Strike Force had violated people's civil rights.

Of Ericksen's 17 monetary awards Tuesday, 11 involved the Brooklyn Park police.

That department was the target of a demonstration Tuesday by about 40 activists who want a former Strike Force officer, Sgt. Greg Burstad, suspended while he is being investigated by his department for incidents cited by claimants in the suit.

Communities United Against Police Brutality, an activist group, gave the police five complaints against Burstad on Tuesday, bringing to 27 the number of complaints that group has filed against him, mostly while he was a member of the Strike Force.

"Hey hey, ho ho, Gregory Burstad has got to go," protesters chanted Tuesday night.

Brooklyn Park Inspector Todd Milburn declined to comment on the Burstad investigation or on Ericksen's decision.

When the suit was settled in 2010, attorney Mark Gehan was named a "special master" to weigh the claims of alleged Strike Force victims. In July, he awarded 96 people about $840,000.

Claimants could appeal Gehan's decisions if he awarded them no money or if they felt they were entitled to more, and about 60 did so. Ericksen raised the awards of three appellants and gave money to 14 people whom Gehan rejected.

To be eligible, an individual had to have been stopped, questioned or arrested by the Strike Force or someone assisting them, property had to be taken from one or more members of the group, and no forfeiture receipt given. Anyone whose encounter with the force resulted in their indictment or a criminal complaint was excluded from awards.

Ericksen awarded $3,000 each to seven people who lived in a Crystal apartment, raided by the force on July 29, 2008. The force seized more than a kilo of cocaine and a man was arrested and deported to Mexico.

The property management changed the locks on the apartment and removed all the contents, which the family never recovered. While Ericksen concluded the property was not taken by the force, she ruled that the force seized $160 but gave no forfeiture notice, making people eligible for awards.

Attorney Phillip Johnson, who represented 37 Brooklyn Park claimants, said Tuesday, "I of course would have liked to have seen more compensation for my clients, but I would like to thank Judge Ericksen for her consideration."

Ericksen wrote that she and Gehan "employed an extremely low burden of proof" because collaborating evidence was not expected.

Joseph Daly, professor emeritus at Hamline University School of Law, said Strike Force attorneys likely agreed to the settlement because the cases might have run for years, costing millions in legal fees.

And if a jury heard of the worst misconduct, he said, "they could have whacked" the force "with extremely high punitive damages that would have gone off the charts."

The $3 million payout comes from an insurance fund set up by the League of Minnesota Cities to which the cities and counties that supplied Strike Officers belonged.

Staff writers Nicole Norfleet and David Chanen contributed to this article.