there is nothing "above it all" about stating that something is par for the course and much less inflammatory than it is being portrayed by people unfamiliar with an area.

First thing to establish, the city has apparently been sued. They can either completely submit and settle or respond. There is no municipality in the world that will not respond to a suit, even if they intend to settle (which is likely the case here).

So, they respond to the complaint, as anyone who has been sued does.

in brief
in a civil suit, a plaintiff files a complaint* (which is a paragraph by paragraph telling of their side of the story and their allegations).
the named parties respond to each paragraph, and include their defenses to each allegation.

not having seen the complaint in this case, it is fair assumption that they plaintiffs are alleging negligence (among many other things).

it's a common defense to negligence that the plaintiff did not exercise due care. that is to say, that the plaintiff is AT LEAST partially at fault for the outcome.

moreover, when responding to a complaint, it is common to state all possible defenses, so that you don't waive them in future.

for example. at this point, most of us have seen the tape. it's tragic and looks very damning for the police officers. that said, the tape is not the entire story. that's what a trial is for. if facts are later revealed establishing that the plaintiff shirked a responsibility of care, then the City will have wanted to establish this defense at the very beginning.

in other words, as a respondent, you lay out all possible defenses at the beginning, so you don't lose the opportunity of using them later.

If I sue Case_One for falling down his rickety steps
it is logical for Case_One to say, "yes, maybe the steps were rickety but why were you running down them?"

the bottom line is that a boy was killed and should not have been.
but all the parties are still entitled to defend their corners and attribute fault equally where it is deserved.


*Sidebar: I wish it was more publicly appreciated that a Complaint is just one a set of allegations made by one side. Not necessarily a document of complete unbiased fact. Too often, people on the internet act like a lawsuit is evidence in itself.