Mayor Michael Bloomberg Sunday defended city bureaucrats who handed out half a million bucks to members of a violent Brooklyn drug gang who sued the Police Department.
"The city gets sued 200 times a week," Bloomberg told the Daily News. "We take as many cases to trial as we possibly can, but we would [go] bankrupt if we tried to defend every one of them."
The mayor was reacting to a front-page News exclusive that exposed a city practice of settling most lawsuits instead of facing expensive jury verdicts.
Accused crack dealers in Brooklyn's East 21st Street Crew collected more than $500,000 from more than 20 lawsuits that never went to trial.
Drug Gang Sues NYPD Multiple Times, Settles for $500K
"The city gets sued 200 times a week," Bloomberg told the Daily News. "We take as many cases to trial as we possibly can, but we would [go] bankrupt if we tried to defend every one of them."
