african voices more mainstream now, there's a lot more on the main story, that of the passing of lee kuan yew, the founding father of singapore. aljazeera.com. . me. >> put your hands up. put your hands up. >> what are you going to do? >> get down on the ground what would you do if you were a cop faced with a split second life or death position. i'll take you inside the cost of injustice in america. from the hands on lethal force training that is unaffordable to many department to the tax-pair funded

reforms forced on broken police departments that can't affect themselves. plus, americans wrongly commit. >> sitting in a cell, knowing you are innocent. you go in front of the parole boards and courts, and they think you are crazy i'm ali velshi, our special report "the cost of injustice" begins now. >> drop the gun. >> the big challenge is to make good decisions under stressful circumstances. the cost of injustice is felt by everyone. when n innocent person is convicted of a crime and is exonerated after years of incarceration, when an innocent person is hurt, and when law enforcement violates the trust of the public. innocent victims pay an emotional price that can't be measured when they are wronged

by the system sworn to protect them. there's a social cost for the victims that pay for lost opportunity during years of incarceration or medical recovery from police misconduct. the public pays a financial price for all the money for convicting, incarcerating, exonerating and settling claims with a wrong victim. altogether, and can cost hundreds of millions, money that is not going to provide services that the community needs. the pay out to settle claims against law enforcement because of wrongful convictionses and police misconduct can cost a staggering amount. in new york city, is adds up to many millions. in philadelphia, $40 million, batt more - $12 million. that's over four years. los angeles, $54 million in the year 2011. in chicago, 450 million over a

decade, and that is something that police departments like the one in richmond california want to avoid. >> what you are about to see could make the difference between life and death. >> drop the gun, richmond police, drop the gun, do it now. >> stop moving. put your hands by your head. >> do it now. >> i don't care if you shoot me. i'll kill you. >> don't move. >> drop to your knees. this time it's a training exercise. next time it could be a real confrontation. that's when the challenge will be to keep an encounter like this from becoming lethal. >> i notice you use good cover, utilizing the car. i would probably talk about your approach first, perhaps maybe parking a little further back and making the approach on foot fight have given more time. with the deaths of michael

brown in missouri, and eric garner in new york. questions have arisen about how american police departments train officers in the use of lethal force. it presentation us to the city of richmond california, it's one of the violent cities in the san francisco bay area. that has undergone a transformation under the supervision of the chief. >> training for the police has to be more than going to the raping once a year and spending eight hours shooting at a tart. good markmanship. we get that. you need to shoot a gun. the bigger challenge is how to make good decisions under stressful circumstances. >> since taking command in 2006 crime has gone down. significantly, so has the use of lethal force by police. in fact, in this city of 107,000 residents.

there has been on average less than one officer involved shooting per year since 2008. >> put your hands up. many attribute the success to progressive use of force training, championed by the chief. here in richmond, officers are challenged to use good judgment and effective communication which can unfold rapidly. the goal is not to unnecessarily use a gun, but to use the tools on the security belt. like a baton or a tasers in situation. >> put the gun down. put it down. we can talk about this. you have to put the gun down. >> you put your gun down. >> you put it down now. >> walk out. me. >> what are you going to do. what are you going to do.

think. >> you can't shoot the gun out of the hand. someone doesn't always comply. >> you are a rookie. >> you are a rookie. >> get on your belly. >> get on your belly. get on your belly. >> get down on your stomach. >> no. think. still looking for it. >> 11:41, and a supervisor. >> lieutenant louie, a 20 year veteran supervises the real-life training that all officers are required to take. at least four times a year. >> you got to the rear of the car, he continued advancing on you. why did you decide at that point to put your pistol away. >> he did not have any weapons in his hands, or that i saw to where i can quickly get it. therefore i pulled up.

it was a taser. >> why did you choose a taser and not a baton. why did you do for the taser. >> it ended with nonlethal force. it's a good lesson in how to have good deadly encounters, building a strong relationship with the community. >> some police departments take more than elite training. coming up, how america can step in and fix police departments that can't fix yourself. paying the price when the justice system makes a mistake and sends an innocent man to prison. errors. >> al jazeera's investigative unit has tonight's exclusive report. >> from coast to coast. >> people selling fresh water for fracking. >> stories that have impact. >> we lost lives. >> that make a difference.

>> senator, we were hoping that we could ask you some questions about your legal problems. >> that open your world. >> it could be very dangerous. >> i hear gunshots. >> a bullet came right there through the window. >> it absolutely is a crisis. >> real reporting. >> this is what we do. >> america tonight. tuesday through friday. 10:00 eastern. only on al jazeera america.

police, drop the gun. >> the bigger challenge how to make good decisions under stressful circumstances the cost of injustice could be enormous for cities and police departments that violate the constitutional rights of citizens, take ferguson, missouri, law enforcement experts say the reforms demanded by the department of justice could cost $10 million or more. it's a big burden for a people. >> the issue draws attention to a 20-year-old law, giving the power to crack down on the police department.

guilty of systematic misconduct. it takes it back to a darker time history. >> 1991. police beat rodney king after a high-speed car chase. excessive force by police officers, three of whom were acquitted in 1992 los angeles implodes riots. >> it's sparked a national debate. how do you fix a police itself. >> can we all get along the response was the violent crime control and law enforcement act of 1994. it passed without fanfare. and law experts call it one of the most significant pieces of civil rights legislation in the 20th century. for the first time in u.s. history the federal government can go after corrupt police

departments. the two options available, sue the city with a civil rights lawsuit, which could bankrupt it or enter into a consent decree. the city must make the reforms that the department of justice mandate. making the reforms that the justice department mandates can be expensive, costing more than 100 million. in the past two decades more than 20 cities entered into the decree, and include big cities like new orleans. the results are mixed. raising the question is the cost of reforming the nation's broken police departments too high? our next guest says maybe. steven is a law professor, writing a book called the answer to police misconduct and expert in how effective the department of justice is when it comes to reforming american police departments. good to see you.

thank you for being with us. you state this 1994 law is remarkable. before it the federal government didn't have the power or jurisdiction to step in when a police force couldn't govern itself properly. there are a lot of asterisk and busts along with that accommodation. >> that's right. thank you for having me. i think everything you said so far is spot on. this is an important piece of civil right legislation that many do not know exists. it's a way that the federal government can crack down on police misconduct and cities unwilling or unable to address misconduct. it's far from a silver bullet. it is, by itself, not necessarily the single answer to police misconduct. cities like ferguson have to pay for the implementation of expensive reforms.

that's plausible in cities like los angeles. that has police resources and a budget of 2 million, it's harder for ferguson to have the resources to address that. i found in my research that it's important for the cities to have local support for the initiatives. and the question open-ended in ferguson is whether or not city officials in ferguson, and the police department in ferguson support federal intervention or what the d.o.j. demands. >> i had a state legislator on from the ferguson legislator that doesn't feel the police force or department of ferguson is in support and suggested that the police force be taken over by a police force in normandy - which i never heard of - and a population of 5,000 and a smaller police force. the numbers that you are talking about, 100 million in los angeles, new orleans had a big

bill and raised taxes. do we have a sense of what it costs to reform a small police force, 53 members in a place like ferguson. >> this is an open-ended question of the it's difficult because most of the cities with the department of justice utilised authorities under the statute. big cities, like los angeles, new orleans, we don't have much of a track record of the d.o.j. using small cities outside of east haven connecticut. we can estimate a couple of costs that ferguson is likely to bear. the first is the city of ferguson will likely have to pay for the appointment of an external monitor. something the d.o.j. and city of ferguson will have to agree pon, a team of law enforcement experts. civil rights attorneys, coming together to oversee the implementations of reforms. the cost alone can range up to a

million, 2 million a year. that's part of the overall bill. the big part of the bill will come from the reforms that the d.o.j. will demand. >> there are two things that strike me as a cost. they don't have the right training. when you can't amortise it. this is a problem. in a force where you have problems, you can make them effective. secondly you may not pay for the police. this is a big deal. >> i think they are good points. one of the major reforms that are required. is that they require significant changes in training. while you are on the job, as well as draining in the economy it's one of many burdens that

likely you will benefit. it's right. it's easier per officer, it may be tougher because there are upfront costs that ferguson may have to bear because they are the municipality that has to implement the forms. we heard stories. have the cities said whatever it is, the department of justice that they can't afford it. there is actually no precedent for that. the d.o.j. keeps in mind, has the authority to investigate and pursue the remedy. they have only done it. very rare effort for the d.o.j. to pursue. typically the d.o.j. tries to use it in agencies where they'll

be most successful. there is a good track record for a city like ferguson. that is both small, and is a small municipal budget. >> they have a quarter of their money. they have a highly aggressive policing. not only will they lose it, they are paying for it on the other end. >> this is an open-ended question. the question is to what extent do we think the city will ban the burden. many civil liberty advocates say whether it's expensive or not. it rears a certain level of policing. a city like ferguson maintains the department. it has to meet standards. >> it hadn't

occurred to me the magnitude of the cost. it's 10 million over five years. thank you for shedding light on the forest. >> great talking to you two. >> seven is an expert on federal intervention. coming up next. a man that spent 21 years in commit. >> the fact that my children, five of then, grew up without a father. i went to no graduations, funerals. we can't get that back. >> now he wants new york city to pay him. can money >> i think we're into something that's bigger than us... >> that's the pain that your mother feels when you disrespect her son... >> me being here is defying all

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drop the gun. >> do it now. >> the big thing is how to make decisions under stressful circumstances new york city is grappling with the high cost of the injustice. claims against the police department cost the city $212 million this settlements and judgment. that's a 5% increase from the year before.

adding to the cost is settlement in cases that are decades old. tied to a string of convictions overturned after police work in brooklyn was called into contention. the latest man to clear his name was to put the city on notice, planning a massive lawsuit for spending two decades in prison. >> this indictment is dismissed. >> he was asked to come from the scruj, telling me that the conviction was vacated. it was like being born again. >> there's a smile on your face. >> yes, bitterness is there. you learn to suppress it. and understand that human being you have errors. the fact that they vacate the conviction on evidence that was available a month after i was

incarcerated. >> reporter: derek served as his own lawyer, and served 25 years in gaol. he was paroled in 2011. he wants new york city to pay him back, and is sooking $100 million in damages after the justice system admitted mistakes. he's the 11th man in 14 months to have a murder conviction overturned. stepping fook a time period in the 1980s, and '90s. part of an effort by this detective to reopen cases where police work has come under scrutiny. >> in brooklyn there are men sentenced to murders, sentenced to long terms. that is not justice. we must have the kormg to stand up, correct the miscarriages of justice staring us in the face.

>> this attorney has been working to put them at the forefront and represents four men that have had their convictions over turned. three are brothers. they settle with the city for 17 million. >> if they didn't thing there was merit to the claim. the city would not pay millions to depend the climates. it's a passive acknowledgements of liability, whether the city wants to admit that or not. >> it's the scope of the injustice defying answers. >> how is this able to happen? >> i feel like the climate of those years in new york city was such that pressure was put on

the precincts to make arrests in violent crime, homicide cases the violent crime. detective. >> the cases were rushed. it shouldn't have made it beyond the desk. >> he was linked to hamilton's case. accused of framing him for a murder outside a home. something denied. at the time hamilton was well-known to police, and had gotten out of prison when an eyewitness fingered him. the eyewitness recanted her story. and it took 24 years for prosecutors to determine she was unreliable. >> she was sent in a prison sell

much the stickmentation of people laughing at you. they think you are crazy when you go before a parole board. to date there has been no finding by a judge or a prosecutor, that the detected contributed. the unit has let 18 of garcell ark's cases stand. they have been reviewing more than 100 convictions. dozens linked to garcella. as the distribute cornery reviews cases, hamel tonne helps them to clear their names. he is intent on making the city, the state and the federal government pay for the years. >> the fact that my children,

five of them. grew up without a father. others had to raise my children. we can't get that back derek joins us. he is acting for $100 million. there have been settlements. he's not going to get $100 million. >> no, it's likely he'll get millions, several millions, if his case goes the way of others. the city is settling the cases before lawsuits are filed. >> what is the hold up. why is the settlement process not part and parcel of that. settlements? >> they are excruciatingly slow. we are following one man, there were hearings, his family showed up. thinking they'd hear a decision

to find out the case was adjourned or the hearing adjourned. all they could do was wait. the prosecutors are going over cases that happened 20-30 years ago. and they are tracking down witnesses and police. >> this is in addition to what we talked about a while ago. they are not part of the costs, they are additional costs. how many cases is new york dealing with and how much could it cost the city. >> the city is facing a high cost. take, for instance, the settlements we saw, everything 22 million. that is four cases. there are others, law sues that will be filed, and the da in brooklyn is reviewing about 100 cases, and there's families now. they are staring at a big cost. >> we could be looking at hundreds of millions.

>> it's possible. >> that's our show for today. i'm very well. thank you for joining us. >> there we go it's ok. look at that look! [laughs] >> [inaudible]. >> i don't believe it. >> what do you mean by saying that a baby loves its mother? >> hey. cute little thing. >> so what's her name gonna be? >> cami. camilena anna diaz, but it's