Yet the Rice settlement is unusually large, both for Cleveland and nationally, though it is in line with some of the more recent high-profile cases. The family of Laquan McDonald, an unarmed man killed by a Chicago police officer, received $5 million. The family of Freddie Gray, who was mortally injured while riding in a Baltimore police van just over a year ago, received $6.4 million. The size of the settlement may reflect in part the circumstances of Rice’s death. Video of an unarmed black boy being gunned down by police just seconds after they arrived on the scene sparked national horror. (Rice had been holding an Airsoft gun.) As more information about Rice’s killing emerged, it added fuel to the outrage. The officers on the scene, Loehmann and Frank Garmback, hadn’t delivered first aid, a role left to an FBI officer who happened to be nearby. Rice’s sister was kept from running to her wounded brother. Damaging revelations about Loehmann’s prior police career added to the fury. He had resigned from another Northeast Ohio department after a bad performance review, and had been rejected by other area departments, information the Cleveland department apparently did not turn up.

But in late December, after releasing a series of exculpatory reports about the officers’ handling of the incident, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty announced that a grand jury had opted not to issue indictments in the case. Activists accused McGinty of excessive friendliness to the police and of working to torpedo an indictment. McGinty lost his bid for re-election when he was defeated by a wide margin in the Democratic primary in March.

Mayor Frank Jackson told The Plain Dealer in 2015 that the pattern of settlements in the city did not prove a pattern of abuse, and said that some officers might not have been at fault. It is true that cities sometimes settle cases rather than risk lengthy or expensive litigation. But the U.S. Department of Justice disagreed, and in May of that year reached a consent decree with the city that requires a passel of reforms.

In a statement, attorneys for Rice’s family noted that “no amount of money can adequately compensate for the loss of a life." While the payout cannot do that, could it be a force for good, encouraging changes in policing in the Forest City, and guaranteeing that there are no future cases like Tamir Rice? Jackson’s disavowal of a connection between lawsuits and misconduct points to the reality of civil lawsuits against police departments. As long as the criminal-justice system remains unfriendly to prosecuting cops—a situation many reformers are hoping to change—civil suits remain one of the few and best tools available for holding police to account. Just how good are they, though? Reaching a definitive answer is nigh unto impossible, but anecdotal and scholarly work alike have reached the conclusion that lawsuits are at best an inconsistent tool for police accountability.