NORTHAMPTON — No city funds were paid out when Northampton settled a civil rights claim with an Amherst man who alleged city police used excessive force and unlawfully arrested him in March 2013.
Northampton’s liability insurance provider, Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association, agreed to pay Jonas Correia $52,500 in an out-of-court settlement earlier this year.
The settlement came 16 months after the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and Northampton lawyer Luke Ryan sent Mayor David J. Narkewicz a letter about the incident, analyzing a cellphone video of the 2013 arrest to make a case against police officers.
The insurance association billed the city for the first $7,500 of its investigatory and legal expenses, its maximum deductible for all professional liability claims, during the course of the matter, Narkewicz explained. The remaining legal expenses and settlement were paid by the insurance provider.
But thanks to credits the city has built up with the insurance provider, it did not have to pay any municipal funds, even for that first $7,500.
Northampton has built up credits with the insurance provider in several ways: by being a long-time customer, sending employees to training sessions and participating in various loss-control activities, Narkewicz wrote in an email.
“We used said credits to offset the first $3,466 in expenses billed to us in relation to this matter in 2014 and this same credit offset covers the subsequent $4,034 in expenses the City was responsible for per its policy deductible,” Narkewicz wrote.
He explained that in fiscal year 2015, for instance, Northampton earned $26,425 in credits with the association through loss-control efforts.
In fiscal 2016, the city budgeted $69,794 for liability insurance to cover public employees.
Stephanie McFeeters can be reached at smcfeeters@gazettenet.com.