needlessly escalated violence during encounters with citizens. Though the city admitted no wrongdoing in settling many of the lawsuits, taken as a whole, the patterns that emerge from the cases match closely with the patterns of police behavior that were described in a U.S. Department of Justice investigation. The city has declined the opportunity to discuss the individual cases in more detail. In response to questions, the city released a statement contending that it seriously considers all allegations of excessive force by officers. This, according to the city, has resulted in a steady drop in the annual number of incidents.

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Terry Gilbert, a veteran civil rights attorney, said the tactic has gone by the wayside in recent years.

"There was a time years ago when they insisted on it but there was no legal basis to enforce it," Gilbert said. Especially in cases involving a death at the hands of the police, the settlements become public when filed as part of an estate in probate court, he said.

Any type of confidential settlements with government agencies violates the spirit of Ohio's open records law and are also legally impractical, said Jeffrey Furbee, the legal advisor for