For $10k, you could probably charter a private plane. So unless every single passenger on the plane is a doctor flying out for an emergency brain transplant, there'd be no rational reason to decline it. For $100k, you could probably buy a small plane.

If they leave the plane docked until somebody agrees, then you could end up in a situation where you get to your destination slower if you stubbornly refuse. Then, you could argue that it's in their best interest to (beat them up if they don't move).

My objection wasn't even over booking. My objection was eviction after the passenger already sat down. To me, that was the unredeemable act. I'm also ashamed that the police department apparently did not accept responsibility. We often talk about how it is a systemic problem when we accidentally run rm -rf in production and find out none of our backups work but we turn around and say "Oh surely the police department is full of good hard working people if it weren't for a couple of bad apples" and completely throw some people under the bus. No, the organization has life of its own and things won't change if heads don't roll at the top.