Police Misconduct and Brutality Causing Injuries
When you’re in trouble and you need help, you naturally call the police. What happens when the police are the ones causing the trouble? Recent events have brought police misconduct into the spotlight, with new occurrences seemingly happening over and over again. Instead of serving and protecting, there are many instances where the police are attacking the citizens who trust them and depend on them.
Even people who have never been in any kind of trouble with the law before may find themselves accused of wrongdoing. Innocent bystanders have been arrested, beaten, and even killed because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. When they try to find out why they are being attacked, law enforcement officers accuse them of resisting.
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Excessive Force / Police Brutality
Most of the cases in the spotlight show innocent, unarmed people being attacked by armed police officers. The officers have been trained to use different methods to force alleged criminals to comply, such as control holds, pepper spray, tasing, and by striking the individual with a baton, punching, and kicking. Anyone who tries to get the officer to stop will likely experience stronger methods, and then the officer will likely charge the victim with “resisting law enforcement” even if the victim wasn’t doing anything wrong in the first place.
Even if you were breaking the law when you encountered law enforcement, there are limits to how much force officers should be able to use, especially when you are cooperating. Unfortunately, too often, it comes down to your word against theirs and the officers are more likely to be believed.
Police Cameras
Sometimes you are lucky and there is a video recording of the incident. Many officers utilize body-cams that can be used to preserve evidence, such as footage of their arrests. There are rules regarding how the video can be used, and there are special rules involved when officers are accused of “serious use of force.” In some jurisdictions, an officer is not allowed to review the body-cam footage before making a statement if there is such an accusation. If the officer makes a statement and then later decides to change the statement after reviewing the body-cam footage, both statements will be admissible if there are civil and/or criminal proceedings against the officer.
Malicious Prosecution
Another possible cause of action is malicious prosecution, where a law enforcement officer pursues a criminal charge or other legal action against you even though there is no probable cause to believe that the crime occurred or that you committed it. Even though malicious prosecution is best known to be applicable in malicious civil lawsuits, it applies to false accusers in various law enforcement agencies who can be held liable (via civil litigation) for bringing in frivolous criminal charges. The law enforcement officers may be prosecutors, police officers, or other officers of the law. In order to win the lawsuit, you must be able to prove that the law enforcement officers who pursued you had malicious intent. It is not enough that they were simply mistaken when they accused you.
If you can prove that you were the victim of malicious prosecution, you can ask for both economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages may include any time you missed from work and any other direct losses you suffered, and non-economic losses will probably include items like loss of reputation in the community and damaged relationships. It can be devastating to be falsely accused of a crime, and it may affect all your relationships.
You don’t have to simply accept that the officers were right if they mistreated you. You have rights, and pursuing those rights doesn’t just help you but society in general. Holding police accountable for bad actions makes society safer for everyone. If you think you might have a case, our experienced Police Misconduct Attorneys at Legal Passkey can give you your options so you can decide what you want to do next.
