There frequent articles in the Oregonian of police being put on administrative leave and disciplined which are more current. This one has been an ongoing big deal here, specially in West Linn, which is why it came to mind. Sure, winning those lawsuits played a role in this because it brought the situation to the City Councilors attention. A $600,000 settlement does not go unnoticed in a small community like West Linn.
The most recent event I can think of is a policeman shooting and killing a homeless wacko in Lents Park.
https://www.wweek.com/news/2021/04/21/a-fatal-police-shooting-in-lents-was-the-nightmare-portland-officials-tried-to-prevent/
This is a
shooting death.

I did a quick google news search of police and administrative leave and all of the stories are about shootings or cops just getting arrested for committing crimes.
There is no epidemic of cops getting reprimanded just for being reported, and police aren't afraid to police for fear of being reported.
Those lawsuits didn't "play a role", they were the major factor. In the article you posted, it said the chief wasn't put on administrative leave until after the lawsuits concluded.