Police pay out $12.4 million in compensation ROGUE cops responsible for brutal beatings, bullying and bungling have cost taxpayers more than $12.4 million in the past five years. The compensation bill includes court-awarded payouts since 2007-08 but does not include sums that may have been paid in confidential settlements of claims before trial. It is believed that a number of payouts have been made to gangland figures and their associates. Some recipients fought for justice for 16 years. One claimant was Farah Jama, just 20 when wrongfully convicted of raping a woman who was found unconscious at a Melbourne bar in 2006. Despite an airtight alibi he was jailed for 18 months, until it was revealed DNA samples had been mixed up at the forensics laboratory. Police now question whether the woman had been sexually assaulted at all. The largest payout was to a family awarded $2.5 million by the Court of Appeal after two police officers bashed down the front door of a home in Surrey Hills in 1993 and brutally attacked the occupants. The court heard the two constables, who said they were responding to telephone reports of domestic violence, assaulted a 67-year-old disabled woman and her son. The man had two broken ribs after an officer kneed him while he was handcuffed. Flemington Kensington Community Legal Centre CEO Anthony Kelly called for an independent, less costly process to address allegations against police officers. "It takes many years and is a long and arduous process," Mr Kelly said. He said some victims waived their right to compensation to ensure swifter changes to police procedure or simply for an apology. Victoria Police spokesman Lisa Beechey said incidents requiring financial settlements were rare. "Civil legal action against Victoria Police is not a common occurrence and generally arises from an unusual set of circumstances," she said. "Where Victoria Police is subject to civil legal action, independent legal advice is sought and decisions are made having regard to the "model litigant" guidelines and the obligations imposed by the Civil Procedure Act."