Lawyers an bring law suits against the police. My understanding is that there are a lot of such suits and that they cost taxpayers a bundle. If the guy in the

Lawyers an bring law suits against the police. My understanding is that there are a lot of such suits and that they cost taxpayers a bundle. If the guy in the OP got a lawyer and won a big judgment, say, $500,000, then voters and, then, politicians would start to take notice. If the SF police keep attacking old guys, then too soon one of them will die, and the law suit could cost SF millions. Then the politicians will start to take positions and the voters to vote. Sure, one of the reasons the police get away with stop and frisk, etc. is the war on drugs. And if drugs are found often enough, then that in effect justifies the illegal stop and frisk. But drugs do not have to have any direct relevance: I doubt that the OP was really about drugs. Instead, the cops just got their jollies beating up on a poor, old, handicapped, black guy on the sidewalk in a high end business district -- jollies.