I think they probably could sue him for damages in civil court, but the problem is that (as I understand it) it is not possible to compel someone to pay. You ca

I think they probably could sue him for damages in civil court, but the problem is that (as I understand it) it is not possible to compel someone to pay. You can garnish wages, seize property, etc., but if you're stealing ~$10 of belts do you think you have $400k laying around? The second part of this is that it indemnifies the police of their actions, shifting the cost of their recklessness. You pay in taxes to give them APCs, and then you pay again when they blow things up with those APCs you bought them.