"Tacoma Officers Cleared in Manuel Ellis' Death Resign with $500,000 Each"

Three Tacoma police officers, acquitted in the death of Manuel Ellis, a Black man who died in police custody in 2020, will each receive $500,000 for resigning from the Tacoma Police Department. The officers were cleared of departmental violations based on policies at the time, and their resignation agreements note that they will receive standard payouts and benefits as required by law. The city's chief acknowledged the detrimental impact of policing on BIPOC communities and stated that the "Use of Force" policy in place at the time of Ellis's arrest has since been revised. The agreements have been criticized as "perverse" by a lawyer for Ellis's family, who pointed out that the former officers had already been paid about $1.5 million while on leave for nearly four years.