Families of 2 fallen Lakewood officers to receive $5 million each
OLYMPIA, Wash. - The families of two Lakewood police officers who were shot to death by Maurice Clemmons in 2009 will each receive a $5 million settlement from the state Department of Corrections, officials confirmed Friday.
A Pierce County Superior Court judge approved the agreement to settle a lawsuit filed by the families of Sgt. Mark Renninger and Officer Gregory Richards.
Renninger and Richards were gunned down by Clemmons as they sat in a Parkland coffee shop on the morning of Nov. 29, 2009. Also killed were officers Ronald Owens and Tina Griswold. Griswold's family received about $2.5 million in an earlier settlement.
Maurice Clemmons was killed two days later by a Seattle police officer.
"The brutal act of violence by Maurice Clemmons took the lives of four dedicated police officers and caused unimaginable grief to their families," the Department of Corrections said in a prepared statement issued Friday. "We hope these settlements help the victims’ families, particularly the children, overcome their loss."
A lawsuit filed earlier by families of the deceased officers claimed that the Department of Corrections should not have released Clemmons from jail because there was a warrant for his arrest issued by the state of Arkansas.
In its prepared statement, the Department of Corrections said that it, along with other public agencies, had taken steps since the shooting to improve public safety.
"We successfully convinced the national organization that oversees the interstate compact to change its rules to provide states with more authority to send offenders back if they pose a significant risk to public safety," the statement said.
"We established the first-ever statewide network that automatically notifies community corrections officers when offenders are released from county jails. And voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the state constitution which allows judges to deny bail to offenders who pose a significant risk to public safety."
A Pierce County Superior Court judge approved the agreement to settle a lawsuit filed by the families of Sgt. Mark Renninger and Officer Gregory Richards.
Renninger and Richards were gunned down by Clemmons as they sat in a Parkland coffee shop on the morning of Nov. 29, 2009. Also killed were officers Ronald Owens and Tina Griswold. Griswold's family received about $2.5 million in an earlier settlement.
Maurice Clemmons was killed two days later by a Seattle police officer.
"The brutal act of violence by Maurice Clemmons took the lives of four dedicated police officers and caused unimaginable grief to their families," the Department of Corrections said in a prepared statement issued Friday. "We hope these settlements help the victims’ families, particularly the children, overcome their loss."
A lawsuit filed earlier by families of the deceased officers claimed that the Department of Corrections should not have released Clemmons from jail because there was a warrant for his arrest issued by the state of Arkansas.
In its prepared statement, the Department of Corrections said that it, along with other public agencies, had taken steps since the shooting to improve public safety.
"We successfully convinced the national organization that oversees the interstate compact to change its rules to provide states with more authority to send offenders back if they pose a significant risk to public safety," the statement said.
"We established the first-ever statewide network that automatically notifies community corrections officers when offenders are released from county jails. And voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the state constitution which allows judges to deny bail to offenders who pose a significant risk to public safety."
Clemens wouldn't have had a chance at this atrocity if cops quit bunching up at coffee shops.Â
Why should they get tax payer money? Isn't this why we have victim assistance? It should have come out of that part of the budget.
@Telman@ you are a person who obviously has no morals or sense at all. They were not on duty when this happened. You should know your facts before opening the garbage mouth you have!
5 mllion dollars each! Are they crazy giving away tax payer money like it's candy?
"We hope these settlements help the victimsâ families, particularly the children, overcome their loss."Â
Overcome their loss, how stupid can you be? Â They will face the remainder of their lives grieving the fact that their father's are dead. Â No amount of money in the world replaces the role those men (and womaN) had in their familIes lives.
To those who protest this payout - no doubt you and/or your families would do the same. Shame on you!
 Huckabee early-released Clemmons; the DOC did not do their jobs; and the laws needed to be changed. These officers did not die in the line of duty - they were preparing to start their shifts and were murdered. Sometimes it take huge payouts to enact change in the process.
This is nothing more than greed! I'm fairly certain that police departments have life insurance plans for the families of officers. I'm also certain that more than a few people donated money to these families by buying coffee at the Forzas or during different fundraisers. Shame on them.
If you read the article these were suits filed by the families. Yes i'm sure they life insurance policies and yes people did donate money I did. This is not greed this are family members wanting some justice to the gunning down of family members. If this happen to you you would want the same thing. I think the families should have also gone after Huckabee for his stupid move of letting this maniac out of prison.
@mdym you are a fool! Shame on you!
I have this really novel idea. Why not blame this incident on the guy who actually did the shootings - Clemmons?
What about the Barista who worked at the coffee shop? Shouldn't she get $10 million for trauma caused by the DOC ? And the medics who responded should get at least $10 million a piece also to witness 4 LEO's shot to death! ! Hell, what about the SPD Officer that killed Clemmons?? He should at least get $20 million since he saved taxpayers the MOST money since Clemmons was never allowed to go to trial, saving $millions!?? Why aren't they suing Skeeter for STEALING the funds contributed to their families by us, the taxpayers?? This has to be one of the greatest scams I have ever witnessed! Has anyone even been fired from their jobs because of the mistakes made? I doubt it! Â It seems to me the people who did not deserve to be paid are the ones that got paid and the ones who deserved to be paid did not! By the way, who was the judge that allowed this injustice to take place?
 @LoJack "Has anyone even been fired from their jobs because of the mistakes made? "
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heh--much better to pay people off with our money and to keep the incompetents that allowed this travesty to happen.
I feel for the families and I am glad that they recieved a substantial settlemeent to support them for the rest of thier lives, but I guess now anytime someone is a victim of a crime in which the perpetrator has been released from jail and on parole and face it, most of them are, there will be a cash settlement to be had. This is precedence for all future civil suits involving the DOC.
@Larrygg or maybe they will start using their brains and quit releasing these scumbags.
You would like to think so but the morons running the justice system have no liability in their actions so why should they care? The judge or the persons responsible for letting him out should be held liable. Can you imagine what  the insurance premiums would be for judicial malpractice?
$5 mill. That's a bit over the top.
I'm sure the family would rather they had their loved one back.
 @banana3 We will give you the task to explain that to their children.
 @realdeal599  @banana3 It's easy to explain...they voluntarily took a job to defend other's while putting there life at risk..So every time a cop dies the family should sue and receive 5 million ? They didn't have to be police officers, they chose too knowing the risks.
Hey Families of the fallen, May I have my donations back! I need it much more then you do!
Really. Way to be a douche bag!!!!!!!!!!
 @zeke123 Zeke... what a zero
@zeke123 thas messed up you would say that... plus im sure they would give every penny back to anyone to have their loved ones back... dont donate then, people arent gonna look down on you if you cant afford to donate, but the will if you ask for your money back..
 @ajohnsoccer21  @zeke123  well obviously they don't need any donations now, also wouldn't be surprise if none of the families that benefit from this pay out, donate any of it. Â
@moose855 @zeke123 I dont think they should feel obligated to donate it.... why is it that when this happens everyone feels bad and gives out a lot of support (which is awesome), but a soon as they get paid out, everyone is upset and wants their money back one way or another?
And why was good sir Clemmons out of jail? Hmmm, 5 million doesn't seem like near enough in this case and I'm a hard person to convince.
This is a bad way for any ones life to end and I feel for the family and friends....Â
But this kind of money (yours and my tax dollars) is way out of line. Â
The death of these officers was very unfortunate and horrific, however, it is life. They chose to protect lives and knew the dangers of the position they were in. We all die someday. ALL of us. When our time is up, its up. And no amount of money is going to take that pain of loss away. Support of your loved ones will soothe it. But 5 mill will not. I hope they donate a LARGE portion of this so a good cause. :-/
 @lamb2009 I would hope that the large portion will go to their children...pretty good cause to me.
 @lamb2009 The 5 million actually accounts for benefits, pay and retirement that is otherwise void when the husband dies. if that doesn't make sense I could explain it further
Those figures must be based on IF the officer lives, how many years he/she serves, if they actually retire and how many years they live beyond that point. I'm not sure how you can figure something like this with that many unknowns. What is the value
of a service member killed in the line of duty in any overseas war? They are protecting us too. Somewhere we have to stop compensating people that much money for things that are directly related to what can happen in life.Â
 @DylanJ  @lamb2009 Please do explain it further. We all take jobs that have varying degrees of dangers, from Police Officers to Mine Workers and even Secretaries. As Lamb said, it is very unfortunate that these officers died, but that is the risk they took in their line of work. I am grateful for my job, but I know I could die anyday doing it. I got a life insurance policy for myself so my family is take care of if I do. If I don't, it is a nice retirement fund. As such, I do not look for others to take care of me or my loved ones. We cannot sustain a society that gives $5million settlements for acts like this while basic human needs for the masses go unmet. How about education in inner city schools; do you think they could have used the $10 million for a greater public good? Thoughts to ponder...
 @DylanJ  @ThinkingMan  @lamb2009 Soo some of the families only got 2.5 million, is that because there lives weren't as valuable ?Â
 @moosedrool  @DylanJ  @ThinkingMan  @lamb2009 So what else is new?
 @DylanJ  @ThinkingMan  @lamb2009 You forgot to subtract the lawyer fees of probably 1/3 the amount (~1.65 mil). I don't believe the lawyer did this pro bono. So while the award was more than the other families, the layers were the big winners here.
 @ThinkingMan  @lamb2009 the point of it actually is if the husband dies and the wife doesn't have a career or even a job then she's gonna be in a VERY bad place financially.
so these victims, they (in the those provided) look fairly young and easily have another 25-40 years left to work. I calculated that if they're making $70,000 a year for 25 years, not including medical coverages this amounts to just under $2,000,000. add in medical coverage for those 25 years and then think of after the 25 years; maybe 15 more years of working? add on about another million for that. the medical, we'll say a half million. retirement for 20 years @ $4000 a month (probably more) is ANOTHER million. lets add them up and see where we are...
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2 million +
1 million +
0.5 million +
1 million =
4.5 million
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we'll throw in another half million for pain and suffering and there you go, a very legitimate case for the $5 million.
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the reason why they should get this money and miners don't? they work for the state, they protect people, ones work is to overcome hostile environments.
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I hoped this wasn't a waste of time on my part! ENJOY
Well, so much for sympathy. How much does Washington State Patrol officer Tony Radulescu's family get? He was killed while actually protecting the public. Let's see - five million for eating a donut...so we owe Radulescu's family about a billion, I would guess.
Glad they're getting what they deserves, but why are the other 2 families only getting half as much?
@Zoso That was my first thought as well.
 @Zoso I wondered about that also. But the article only mentions one other family as having settled for less. That could be something like having more children or parents to support etc. etc. or it could be, as Alert Eagle suggested, better lawyers. It could also be that they simply refused to settle for the lesser amount.
 @Zoso Probably because their lawyers were not as good, seems all four families should have sued as a group.
Money settles everything in america doesn't it?
 @Klondiko yeah, and tooth fairies and easter bunnies and santa clause
@raydawg Actually those things are good... tooth fairies, the Easter Bunny, and Santa. Now on the other hand, money is the root of all evil.
so.....how much do the families of the wrong deadly force (used) get, and how long do they have to wait, I wonder?
Not nearly enough.
Good. Maybe they'll stop letting dirt like Clemmons out of prison. He needed to be there forever.
Good; its about time.
I understand that they served the public. I understand all officers have an underlying knowledge that their job places them in danger, more than the usual.Â
However, Clemmons never should have been on the streets. He never should have been given the opportunity to "offend" in any way.  An outstanding warrant should have kept him in jail.
Griswold's estate should have been equal, I'm hoping that Owen's estate will be treated equally.
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The 5 mill won't take away the pain, but I'm hoping that the changes that were brought about have helped console the families.
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I am not saying these families don't deserve this, but there is no way in the world that the family of a military service member killed while serving his country would even get near what this judgement is for.
@Robinsnest I agree.... my son is in the army and I'm his beneficiary. If he is killed on his deployment, I will give 100K from his life insurance. (of course he won't get killed, since I won't allow it)
 @hrhkellyb The different military branches may have different insurance benefits, but if I were you I would check that number. If my husband were to die, I would get just over $400K and we're Navy. A service members spouse is also covered for $100K and each child is covered for $10K. I pray every day for our military and their families. Military families really do live a unique life and sacrifice so much.
@hrhkellyb It was only 10k when I served. That's inflation for you.
@hrhkellyb Good luck to your son! Mine is going in the Marines, his report date is in January.