treat it as abuse of power

Do your city have some kind of citizen commission oversee
police? You should present your case to such commission.
Newspaper and TV stations are other ways you can shame the
police into taking responsibility. Inform the person you
are dealing with that you are going to file a citizen
complaint for abuse of police authority and tell your story to newspaper and tv reporters. I would image
it will get the problem solved. For $1600, it may not worthwhile to go to the court unless you can recover legal
fee in addition to damage.

Good luck!