Bay Area Rapid Transit, or BART, in Northern California has agreed to pay $1.5 million to the mother of Oscar Grant's daughter to settle a lawsuit stemming from the shooting at the Fruitville station platform on Jan. 1, 2009, the agency announced.
The lawsuit came as a response to the shooting of 22-year-old Grant by 28-year-old BART officer Johannes Mehserle, who has said he meant to grab his TASER but used his gun instead. Grant was lying face down on the platform.
"This settlement is critical in our efforts to move forward," said BART Board Member Carole Ward Allen, who is overseeing reforms to the transit's police department.
Reforms listed by the agency include:
- Working with the State Legislature to pass a bill (AB1586) on citizen oversight of the BART Police Department.
- More than tripling the number of training hours provided all officers, including increased training in crowd control, defensive tactics and Taser use.
- Involving the public in BART's search for a new police chief.
- Increasing police visibility in stations and on trains.
- Requiring officers to report all use-of-force incidents, not just those deemed "significant," with each incident thoroughly reviewed by a newly established panel that determines the next appropriate steps of action.
